M. Night Shyamalan has come full circle over the last 20 years. He was an instant success with The Sixth Sense, a solid box office machine with Unbreakable and Signs, a Hollywood in-joke after The Village, then poison for a decade with horrible film after horrible film. Then he started to evolve and get his mojo back with The Visit, … Continue reading I’m Campy, Thanks for Asking! – Glass
We've got one last film to review from 2018 before tomorrow's announcement of the Oscar nominees. Stan & Ollie may get shut out of the proceedings entirely, or it could find itself up for a small handful of categories, it's hard to say. So far, it hasn't won anything, but it has gotten some nominations and … Continue reading The Way Nostalgia Should Be Done – Stan & Ollie
With Oscar nominations coming up on Tuesday, there are two more films from 2018 that I want to see and review during the holiday weekend. It's very possible that with these two in the books, I might be so far ahead of the curve that I'll only have the Short categories to tackle for this … Continue reading Drugs are Bad, Mmkay? – Beautiful Boy
Nicole Kidman received a Best Actress nomination at this year's Golden Globes for her performance in Karyn Kusama's noir thriller, Destroyer, and it's possible she could get an Academy Award nomination next week. As such, it's only proper that we take a look at this thematic departure for the past Oscar-winner, and see if the hefty … Continue reading About As Far From Stepford As it Gets – Destroyer
While coverage will continue on 2018 films as we get closer to the Oscar Blitz, that doesn't mean we get to sleep on the actual new releases that officially ring in the 2019 year in film. The first entry for this new year is Replicas, starring Keanu Reeves, released by Entertainment Studios, who let's just say … Continue reading No Winners in This Game of Clones – Replicas
Viewers of Denmark's Foreign Language entry, The Guilty, may find unexpected similarities to an American film from a few years ago, The Call, starring Halle Berry. In that 2013 film, Berry plays a 9-1-1 operator who works to save a kidnapping victim played by Abigail Breslin, which expanded from Berry's grounded performance to a slew of action … Continue reading Call Him, Definitely – The Guilty
I had an interesting new experience when I saw Germany's Foreign Language submission, Never Look Away the other night. It was my first trip to the Aero theatre in Santa Monica, part of the Arena Cinematheque chain of classical theatres, which includes the world famous Egyptian theatre, founded by Sid Grauman, who also founded the Chinese … Continue reading Truth Hurts, But is Still Beautiful – Never Look Away
My final film of calendar year 2018, Vice, presents a unique opportunity. Written and directed by Adam McKay, it provides another chance for McKay's rapier wit in explaining how the elite grab hold of the seats of power and fuck over the rest of us. He did it two years ago with The Big Short, and now … Continue reading What a Dick! – Vice
In 2010, a documentary called Marwencol chronicled the life and artwork of Mark Hogancamp, an artist from upstate New York who was beaten within an inch of his life because of some sexual personality differences. Unable to draw after his injuries, he instead created a fictional miniature town in his yard, populated by dolls that he … Continue reading Hello Dollies! – Welcome to Marwen
Three years ago, Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski won the Oscar for Foreign Language for his film, Ida, about a Catholic nun who wants to experience sexual relations before officially taking her vows, and who learns from her only living relative that her parents were actually Jewish. In keeping with the mid-20th century European aesthetic, the film … Continue reading Across the Iron Curtain and Between the Sheets – Cold War
I Actually Paid To See This 