This is the second part of a three-part series. The first part, where I talk about the superhero genre’s place among other quintessentially American film genres, is here. The Best of the Fourth Genre What I was going to do here, in the interests of giving you the wisdom of crowds and critics, was one… Read More The Fourth Genre: The Best Superhero Movies
The Fourth Genre (Just in Case You’re from Space and Haven’t Seen The Avengers) Before I watched a bunch of DC animated movies, I watched A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies. In that doc, Scorsese says there are three American genres, genres which sprung up in their fullest forms in American movies:… Read More The Fourth American Genre: The Superhero Movie
Recently, I was inspired by the unveiling of the Variety list of the 100 best horror movies. I was curious why the list had been received with trepidation. To sum up the post, my conclusion was that Variety included a number of older movies which rely more on atmosphere than gore or jump scares, and… Read More Which Movies Make Up the Horror Canon?
For those of you coming to the discourse a little late, let’s summarize some of the little reasons why people got mad at the Variety list. (The list was put together by Siddhant Adlakha, Peter Debruge, William Earl, Owen Gleiberman, Courtney Howard, Tomris Laffly, Amy Nicholson, and Rene Rodriguez. I wish that they, as Slant… Read More The Variety 100 Best Horror Movies – Whose Horror Is It Anyway?
From @JFrankensteiner, one of the leading lights of Film Twitter, the guy who popularized “Jimmy Carter: Letterboxd President.” This has over six million views on Twitter and more than 100,000 likes. Is it hyperbole? Is this, in fact, the worst filmography you’re liable to see in your life? As ever, I am still just one… Read More Who Has the Worst Filmography of All Time?
At the 96th Academy Awards, Diane Warren failed to win Best Original Song for the fifteenth time in fifteen tries. Shockingly, “The Fire Inside,” written for the movie about the guy who did not in fact come up with the idea for hot Cheetos, did not win. On the other hand, I’m willing to wager… Read More The Warren Index: Will They Win a Competitive Oscar Before Diane Warren?
Terence Davies died and it broke my heart. He was a month shy of his seventy-eighth birthday. In the final decade of his filmmaking career, he made four films: The Deep Blue Sea, Sunset Song, A Quiet Passion, and, all too appropriately, Benediction. With apologies to what he had done from the early 1980s and… Read More Did Terence Davies See Killers of the Flower Moon?
To see the intro page for “Best Director” Madness, click here. To see the Round of 64, click here. To see the Round of 32, click here. To see the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, click here. Sixty-eight directors walked in. Four directors are still standing. One will walk out as the champion of “Best… Read More “Best Director” Madness 2023: Final 4 and Championship Game
To see the intro page for “Best Director” Madness, click here. To see the Round of 64, click here. To see the Round of 32, click here. We’ve lost one of our 1-seeds, and in the Sweet 16 we’ll lose another. Each round of the bracket will use a quote from a Roger Ebert review… Read More “Best Director” Madness 2023: Sweet 16 and Elite 8
To see the intro page for “Best Director” Madness, click here. To see the Round of 64, click here. After one round, all the 1- and 2-seeds are safe, and so are all the 5s. A little chalky, but the criteria was maybe a little murkier than some of the others will be. Each round… Read More “Best Director” Madness 2023: Round of 32
Seeing Things Secondhand 