Dir. Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer. Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Doona Bae Mark Harris, whose best work as a film critic concerns the larger trend of American studios making the safest decisions possible to the detriment of American film, has spent years on the topic by now. I don’t know what his opinion… Read More Cloud Atlas (2012)
Dir. Dan Gilroy. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Rene Russo Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) is an enterprising American entrepreneur. Almost entirely self-trained, with the help of some business classes from the Internet, he represents the “school of hard knocks” approach to building a company. Through a combination of dogged persistence, on-scene training, hard work, and a… Read More Nightcrawler (2014)
In this edition of the podcast, Matt and I let our thoughts fly free about Rogue One. We get down and dirty to talk about acceptable terrorism, make a rather tasteless comparison between one character and Oskar Schindler, praise the ability of a cast without a single A-lister, and preview our next podcast, where we’ll find a… Read More Baumann and Burch, Episode 31: I See the Bad Death Star Rising
Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker Amy Adams’ star image is like a braid. One strand is defined by Enchanted, but also includes Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Junebug, Catch Me if You Can, Julie and Julia, and The Muppets. Adams is, for my money, the most beautiful redheaded actress… Read More Arrival (2016)
Dir. Ronald F. Maxwell. Starring Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen I can’t think of another movie made in the past quarter-century which should have seen big screens less than Gettysburg. This isn’t a statement of the film’s quality, but of its marketability, because let’s face it, this is a unicorn of a film. Longer… Read More Gettysburg (1993)
Dir. Jan Troell. Starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg (This review is a bit more awkward than the average movie review I do, because The Emigrants is not really its own film any more than Fellowship of the Ring is its own film. The New Land, released the year after The Emigrants, is… Read More The Emigrants (1971)
Dir. Richard Linklater. Starring Jason London, Rory Cochrane, Matthew McConaughey Deadwood, the Joe Rudi of Peak TV, takes the murder of Wild Bill Hickok more or less as its starting point. It’s a great place to start your TV show, especially if you’re a viewer who has never heard of Will Bill, knows he’s being… Read More Dazed and Confused (1993)
Dir. Alan Parker. Starring Barry Miller, Maureen Teefy, Gene Anthony Ray A fun thought exercise for future car trips: what’s your trilogy of (insert city here) movies? For example, my Los Angeles trilogy features Sunset Boulevard, Blade Runner, and Pulp Fiction (with special apologies to Double Indemnity and Chinatown). I’ve given less thought to my… Read More Fame (1980)
Created by Dan Harmon. Starring Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi 24) S2E1, “Anthropology 101.” Primary characters: Jeff and Britta/Secondary characters: Annie and Shirley The first season of Community is absolutely rock-solid, with a few shining episodes here and there (“Beginner Pottery,” one of the standout examples of “half the study group takes this class… Read More Community, Season 2
Dir. Charles Sturridge. Starring Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Claire Bloom (My thoughts on the preceding episode are here.) “A Blow Upon a Bruise” is maybe the most apt name for an episode of television ever aired, because it’s exactly how it feels to watch this painful hour; I’ve watched this miniseries all the way through… Read More Brideshead Revisited S1E5, “A Blow Upon a Bruise”
Seeing Things Secondhand 