It was a notably lackluster year for movies. I searched in vain all last spring and most of the summer for something exciting, challenging, beautiful to see. It wasn't until this fall that a tidal wave of smart, absorbing, artful films were released before awards season, and I did my best to stay afloat in [...]
No doubt you've seen my review of PARASITE, the most well-conceived, executed, and surprising movie out there now, but here's my take on a few more--worthy in whole, in part, or not at all... These films represent my wide-ranging interest in all kinds of movies, even as fewer and fewer of them are now playing [...]
ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD is easily THE film of the summer, the year thus far, and maybe the decade. It's a climactic showstopper of an achievement, Quentin Tarantino's avowed penultimate 9th movie, a full-to-bursting valentine to movie-making and movie stars, his native Los Angeles, and an industry mirroring the turbulence of a culture [...]
OK. The big night is upon us and it's the wild west out there. Not just the Kevin Hart controversy; the cutting telecast categories controversy; the "only Gaga/Kendrick Lamar can sing" controversy; the "popular" movie category controversy; but also that crazy slate of Best Picture nominees with no front runner! Well, the final ballots are [...]
SO many excellent films came out at the 11th hour-- meaning not until FALL 2018 (ridiculously late I might add), that it has taken me until now to see all the good stuff. Here is a list of my TOP TEN favorite films of 2018. Many of these films allowed us to see ourselves in [...]
It's my favorite film so far this season: THE FAVOURITE, an 18th century biopic about British Queen Anne. A good old-fashioned, period costume drama? No bloody way. It's "Dangerous Liaisons" shot through the looking glass, except that it's "Anne" instead of "Alice," and "les liaisons" are decidedly and historically lesbian. THE FAVOURITE is [...]
The dog days of summer feature two movies based on books that require some navigation through PC muddied waters. BLACKkKLANSMAN is Spike Lee's take on the "true" tale of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington, Denzel's son!) the first black detective on the Colorado Springs Police Force in the early '70's who infiltrates the Ku Klux [...]
In one of the more entertaining Oscar nomination ceremonies in recent memory, Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish announced the nominations for the 90th Annual OSCARS this morning from California. THE SHAPE OF WATER lead with 13 nominations. By my calculation, there were a few flubs, snubs, & surprises: --Spielberg was snubbed as Best Director for [...]
If only PHANTOM THREAD had been based on real life couture god Charles James. At least the clothes would have been beautiful. Here Daniel Day-Lewis as designer Reynolds Woodcock spends the entire movie needling his seamstresses as they sweat over what look like aproned doilies and lumpy Halloween costumes. OK. A few of [...]
They didn't make my Five Fave Films of 2017 so far, nor are they all the Boston area Film Critics choices, but here’s another batch of films, like cookies for the holidays-- yummy & crummy; some to be savored, some to be consumed guiltily in the dark, and some cookies, well, should be tossed. [...]
