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. Stephen Frears. Starring John Malkovich, Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer Valmont (Malkovich) emotionally withdraws from as many situations as he can, not because “emotion is weakness” or some other flaccid cliche, but because it’s silly to be emotionally involved in a situation where only one of you is in real life. Valmont is in a stage… Read More Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Dir. David Cronenberg. Starring Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen In love and psychoanalysis, where one rests relative to one’s partner is of vital importance. Throughout the film, Jung (Fassbender) and Spielrein (Knightley) switch places relative to one another befitting just those concepts. In the beginning, while Jung is still her doctor and not her… Read More A Dangerous Method (2011)
Honorable mentions: “New Ways to Dream,” “This Time Next Year” Like Jeremy Jordan, Sunset Blvd (as I’m going to call it to avoid confusion) has gotten thorough treatment on this blog in the recent past. And while Sunset Blvd and Sunset Boulevard aren’t the same thing at all, they are devilish close. One occasionally wonders how Don Black and Christopher… Read More Songs from Musicals: #35 “The Greatest Star of All,” from Sunset Boulevard
Seeing Things Secondhand 