The Not-Oscars 2016

It’s just about Oscar time again — though for once, the Best Picture race isn’t exactly the most disappointing contest I’ll witness over the past year. At times like these, the Academy Awards feel somewhat frivolous. It’s possible that some likely winners — The Salesman, Mahershala Ali, The White Helmets, OJ: Made In America, and even […]

Top Ten Films: 2016

Another year, another awards season. But this was no ordinary year. Where to begin, when we speak of 2016? Most years, I just pick my favorite films, and that’s it. But this year, it felt important to really think about these choices, and what they expressed about my feelings this year. That’s not to say […]

Stronger Together: Amy Adams Anchors ‘Animals’ & ‘Arrival’

Since no studio executive can see into the future, it is impossible to to know if the right date has been selected to launch a film. Sure, 4th of July weekend was a pretty savvy time to release Independence Day back in 1996, and you can consider that a safe bet, but there are moments […]

Monsters In Moonlight: The Year’s Best Dramas Come Out To Play

The “coming out” film has been the cornerstone of queer cinema for at least a couple of decades. For all the progress the LGB… (sorry, I’ve lost track of how many letters are supposed to be attached to that alphabet soup) movement has made in shifting from the niche to the mainstream in that time, […]

Black, White & Wed: A Difficult Year Gets Some Much-Needed ‘Loving’

It’s impossible to ignore the year 2016 when talking about Loving, a film that takes place between 1958 and 1967 and depicts the lives of the titular couple at the center of one of the Supreme Court’s landmark cases of the 20th century. So let’s talk about 2016.

No, Seriously, Take Shelter: Jeff Nichols Cooks Up A ‘Midnight Special’

(I knew next to nothing about Midnight Special going in, and if you’re curious at all and haven’t yet seen the trailer, I recommend you follow suit. I’ll give a general overview and then a fair warning when I discuss things it may be best not to know about until you see it, though the […]

‘Jobs’ & ‘Homes’: Politics, Technology & Economy In America’s Recent Past

Whether you’re a fan of former president George W. Bush or not, you have to admit his term contained some profound low points, kicking off with 9/11 and ending in a nasty recession. You may or may not blame Bush himself for these and other pieces of unfortunate Americana in the 21st century, but let’s […]

Pigs & ‘Mud’: The Kick-Off To A Sundance Summer

Summer is the season for blockbusters, of course, but there also must be a little counter-programming for those of us less inclined to see Fast & Furious 6 or Star Trek Into Darkness. Nearing the end of May I’ve yet to see a summer blockbuster, not because they’re totally unappealing but merely because they’re not […]

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 […]

The Not-Oscars 2011

It’s that time of year again, folks! What I like to call “movie Christmas.” And like an actual holiday, the Academy Awards often end up as more of a disappointment than anything else — any Oscars handed out to not-so-great nominated films like Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Iron Lady can be chalked […]

Top Ten Films: 2011

Is it me, or were 2011’s movies more united by theme this year than is usual? Nostalgia was the big one, with several titles capitalizing not just on our nostalgia of a past era, but of movies from a past era — from silent films to Spielberg blockbusters and everything in between. Films like The […]

Martha Marcy May Michael Shannon: Movie Madness 2011

(Movies discussed in this post: Martha Marcy May Marlene, Bellflower, Red State, Higher Ground, Take Shelter.) “We all go a little mad sometimes,” a very famous movie character said. He was not nominated for an Oscar, but he should have been. It was Anthony Perkins in Psycho, a little mad indeed. (Okay, that’s an understatement.) […]