Dir. Steven Spielberg. Starring Eric Bana, Mathieu Amalric, Ciaran Hinds The final shot of Munich, in terms of detracted value, one of the very worst shots of Steven Spielberg’s career. I’m trying to forgive him, because better directors than him were shaken by 9/11 in ways that destabilized their own movies. For example, there’s that deeply… Read More Munich (2005)
Dir. Lana and Lilly Wachowski. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss The ’90s remain a key reference point for action films in this country, and to say “’90s action movie” is to call up larger than life scenarios and apocalyptic visions. There are significantly more ludicrous ’90s action movies than Point Break, say, but… Read More The Matrix (1999)
To see the results of last year’s Grouches and to check out the fuller version of the regulations, go here. The Grouches are back this year to award last year’s films, although I’ve timed this up to basically match this year’s Oscars. (Trust me, I’m glad to have the extra time!) Here are the short… Read More 2nd Annual Grouches: 2020 Movie Year Awards
The morning after this most recent Oscars, I was chatting with a friend who is not a big movie watcher and, to her perpetual credit, does not follow awards season buzz at all. Knowing that I am the kind of nitwit who follows awards season pretty nearly, she asked how the Oscars went, mentioned that… Read More Nomadland and the New Chum of Oscarbait
I have been vocally against the extended Oscar season timeline from the first, but if there is one good thing about it from my perspective, it’s that this is the first time in my life that I’ve ever seen all of the Best Picture nominees before the ceremony. Almost by accident, I’ve also written about… Read More 93rd Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees – Hub
Dir. Florian Zeller. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Olivia Williams A recent release which I think relies a little bit too much on surprise reveals for effect, as you’ll see when you read this, but if you’re looking to see this and you want to avoid spoilers, come back to this post later on. There’s… Read More The Father (2020)
Dir. Lee Isaac Chung. Starring Yeri Han, Steven Yeun, Alan Kim With this movie still wearing that “early access” badge on Amazon, I feel duty bound to mention that spoilers are below. The shot of the year in American popular cinema is in Minari. The Yis are all at the hospital, that one that has… Read More Minari (2020)
Because the mill of content constantly requires grist, I’ve made a number of meta-analyses on a number of topics: the MCU, Pixar movies, the oeuvres of several directors. No Google search has been as forthcoming or complete as “tarantino movies ranked.” For one thing, there are fewer Tarantino movies than MCU or Spielberg movies, so… Read More Quentin Tarantino Meta-Analysis
Dir. Elizabeth Banks. Starring Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, Ella Balinska The Angels (angels? It somehow feels weirder not to capitalize it) are betrayed. Sabina (Stewart) has a moment not unlike that one that David Niven’s character has in The Guns of Navarone, where she says something along the lines of “Boy, it sure seems like… Read More Charlie’s Angels (2019)
Dir. George Seaton. Starring Burt Lancaster, Helen Hayes, Dean Martin Dir. George Seaton. Starring Burt Lancaster, Helen Hayes, Dean Martin There’s one really good moment in this movie, and I think it’s sort of ironic that it’s such a good moment because in a better movie I don’t think it would have worked nearly as… Read More Airport (1970)
Seeing Things Secondhand 