Christopher Nolan has made his name as a filmmaker through two basic avenues. One is his Dark Knight trilogy of movies featuring Batman. The other is in complex narratives that play on the elasticity of cinema itself to tell high-concept stories out of sequence or in ways that mess with basic timeline structure (Memento, Inception, … Continue reading Theory and Praxis – Oppenheimer
I saw 111 new films in 2018 between the theatre and streaming services. Eleventy-one movies, eleventy-one reviews, either stand-alone or in groups. Eleventy-one chances to thrill, to laugh, to cry, and to outright despise. It's been a hell of a run this first year, and we're still not done. There are still plenty of movies … Continue reading The Best (and Worst) of 2018
If there's one word to describe Damien Chazelle's latest work, it would be, "gripping." That really is the best word I can come up with for First Man, his chronicle of the life of astronaut Neil Armstrong and the events leading up to the Apollo 11 moon landing. From the very beginning it is Chazelle's intent … Continue reading Riding Shotgun to History – First Man
As Apollo 11 was heading towards history on the Moon, there was a terrible tragedy on the island of Chappaquiddick, in which Senator Ted Kennedy flipped his car off a small bridge with no railing, and into a pond. He escaped. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, did not. For whatever reason, Kennedy didn't report the … Continue reading When You Pahk Yer Cahr at the Bahttom of a Pahnd – Chappaquiddick
Dear readers, I regret to inform you all that the beloved Helen Mirren has become the latest victim of the studio-dump-horror-film-for-a-quick-paycheck abyss, starring in the newly-released Winchester, which, I shit you not, revolves around the ghosts of gunshot victims being "saved" by being shot... again. Strap yourselves in. The Aussie-American project features Mirren as Sarah Winchester, … Continue reading Busting Ghosts by Shooting them in the Goddamned Face – Winchester
I Actually Paid To See This 