Top Ten Films: 2022

What do you know about art, kid?

“In The End It’s All Nice” (#84)

In previous episodes, we discussed how 1999 films like Fight Club, American Beauty and Magnolia redefined my ideas around what movies could do — just as I was heading into film school. Requiem For A Dream was a part of that, too, except in a more shocking, fringe way. Despite accolades for Ellen Burstyn’s performance, […]

Best Of The Decade: 2010s

A decade at the movies is serious business. When the 2010s began, Avatar had just opened in theaters. It went on to top the all-time box office and spawned the short-lived resurgence of 3D, a fad that has mostly died out (again). Netflix, then known for its DVD rental services, was just beginning to expand […]

Top Ten Films: 2017

It was a very good year. (At the movies, anyway.)

There Will Be Food: ‘Phantom Thread’

“Behind every great man, there’s a great woman.” That’s a polite way of saying, “A great man is standing in front of every great woman.”

‘Mother’ Lover: A Defiantly Divisive Antidote To The State Of Cinema In 2017

How to review a movie like Mother? Honestly, it’s probably best not to try… but here goes.

Love In A Hopeless Place: ‘Jackie’ Is A Requiem For The American Dream

She remembers how hot the sun was in Dallas, and the crowds — greater and wilder than the crowds in Mexico or in Vienna. The sun was blinding, streaming down; yet she could not put on sunglasses for she had to wave to the crowd. And up ahead she remembers seeing a tunnel around a […]

Top Ten Films: 2006

Continuing my retroactive Top 10 lists, this one takes us back to 2006, originally published in my “Confessions of a Dangerous Film Student” column in INsite Boston.

10 Reasons ‘Black Swan’ And ‘Birdman’ Are Actually The Same Movie

Birdman is one the year’s most critically beloved films. It features brilliant performances, breathtaking filmmaking, an off-the-beaten-path score, and unfolds in one long unbroken take (but not really). And how about the story? Well, on a narrative level, it’s pretty much the same movie as Black Swan, which is why I admire the film but […]

Character Ark: ‘Noah’ Writes The Book On Savvy Spectacle

Have you heard the Good News? One of the most innovative filmmakers of this millennium has released an epic blockbuster that caters heavily to a Christian audience — and it’s actually pretty decent.

Top Ten Films: 2008

Before I started my own entertainment-related blog, my Top Tens had to whore themselves out on my friends’ pages. This one was originally posted on Justin Plus One. As usual with my Top Tens, I have preserved them as they were, even if, in hindsight, I may disagree with some of my own choices. (Did […]

Top Ten Films: 2010

As a film school graduate, I’m afraid I have an obligation to take entertainment way too seriously. That’s why, when awards season rolls around, I can’t help but partake in the senseless, arbitrary, and totally nerdy critic’s pastime of ranking all the films I saw and compiling a Top Ten List. And since 2011’s award […]