The Best Of The Rest Of Film: 2019

Another strong year at the movies means, once again, I can’t stop at ten. Top Ten lists are so limiting! And there are many films in this roster of 15 more that, for me, will be equally defining of the past year in film. We were fairly spoiled in 2019, not just in the quality […]

Top Ten Films: 2019

Hello. Thank you all for coming. We are gathered here today in remembrance of The Motion Picture. The Movies were born in March 1895. They lived a vibrant, storied life. It was not until 1927, at the age of 32, that they learned to speak. Soon after, they learned to sing, too. They became more […]

In The Rough: ‘Uncut Gems’

Adam Sandler is a likable guy. I don’t know why. I avoid nearly every movie he’s in — usually, tepid broad comedies, always playing up the signature appeal that’s been his brand since Saturday Night Live. Sandler has gotten serious on us before, flexing dramatic muscles in films like Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Spanglish (2004), Funny […]

A Most Violent Year: ‘1917’ Sends 2019 Out With A Bang

The upcoming Oscar race just got a lot more competitive.

First Date, Kinda Nervous: ‘Queen & Slim’

No matter how many bad Tinder dates you’ve been on, you’ve never been on one that went as awry as Queen and Slim’s. Queen & Slim begins in the midst of an awkward first date between the title characters. (They’re never referred to as Queen or Slim during the film. Their actual names are referenced […]

Irish Goodbye: Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’

Believe it or not, it’s been nearly 30 years since Martin Scorsese made GoodFellas, one of the auteur’s least disputed masterpieces. The film was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. Joe Pesci won Best Supporting Actor. Scorsese’s name has been mentioned in a lot of film criticism lately, and not just because […]

In A Lonely Place: ‘Ad Astra’ & ‘The Lighthouse’

Without mankind’s inclination to push the limits of possibility, we wouldn’t have a number of scientific achievements we benefit from today — and we wouldn’t have a lot of epic movies. In one of 2017’s best films, The Lost City Of Z, James Gray took Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson to the unexplored, inhospitable jungles […]

Origins Of Love: ‘Genesis’ & ‘Pain & Glory’

The words “Pedro Almodóvar” and “semi-autobiographical” are used together often, particularly when mentioning his strongest and most popular works — Bad Education, Volver, and the Oscar-winning All About My Mother amongst them. So it’s notable that the Spanish filmmaker’s latest, Pain & Glory, is said to be his most autobiographical film. Almodóvar returns to the rich […]

Eat The Rich: ‘Monos’ & ‘Parasite’

If there’s one thing the divided political parties can agree on right now, it’s this: rich people suck. The right rails against “the elite,” the left decries capitalist greed, and everybody’s too pissed off at how the system is rigged to examine how the system is rigged (which is an important part of the rig). Thus, […]

The Clown Prince Rises: ‘Joker’ Takes Center Stage

Want to hear something funny? The director of Road Trip, Old School, and the Starsky & Hutch movie unveiled his new film at the Venice Film Festival. It won the Golden Lion, an award previously bestowed upon awards season heavy-hitters like Brokeback Mountain and Roma. And guess what else? It’s a comic book movie! Want […]

Something Witchy: ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’

Controversial opinion: Quentin Tarantino films are mixed bags. More often than not, it’s a pretty good mix! But I’ve never unabashedly loved one. Pulp Fiction is vital and iconic, but I don’t care what happens to any of its characters; after a near-perfect setup, Inglourious Basterds mostly forgets its title characters, and can’t stop introducing new […]

Fatal FOMO: ‘Greta’ & ‘Ma’

As children, we are strongly advised against taking candy from strangers, but the lesson doesn’t stick. The grown-up version of that — taking alcohol from strangers — is something many of us do carelessly and often, particularly when underage. That’s the underlying premise of Ma, in which a seemingly kind middle-aged veterinary assistant takes a […]