The actor: Daniel Kaluuya The character: Fred Hampton The film: Judas and the Black Messiah The line: “I am! A revolutionary!” If you’re a regular churchgoer, you’ve heard the one about how Jesus wasn’t some sedate guy who preached love and chill vibes. Jesus had a bite to him, whether he was doing some of… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #41
The actor: Daniel Kaluuya The character: OJ Haywood The film: Nope The line: “What’s a bad miracle? They got a word for that?” In The Grapes of Wrath, there’s a phrase that Steinbeck uses early on that I have never forgotten and that I have shamelessly brought into my own writing: “Now and then the… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #47
(To see the results of last year’s Grouches, go here. For the year before, go here. To see the first Grouches, which also carries a significantly more complete version of my criteria, go here.) Last year, we at the Grouches decided that we were going to go whole hog into being Oscars counterprogramming and for… Read More 4th Annual Grouches: 2022 Movie Year Awards
Dir. Shaka King. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Dominique Fishback Judas and the Black Messiah is a great title. Catchy, memorable, SEO-friendly. We clearly have a sense of what’s going to happen, even if the viewer has never heard of Fred Hampton (Kaluuya), let alone Bill O’Neal (Stanfield), although, as K. Austin Collins of Rolling Stone… Read More Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin For a while, there was something very 1970s about Sicario. Kate (Blunt) is someone who believes in the rule of law, which makes her a throwback, which makes her obsolete. She is surrounded by people who believe in winning more than they believe in stuff like… Read More Sicario (2015)
To see the entire list of my 100 top movies of last decade, or to find the landing page for the other years in this series, click here. My recollections of the 2017 movie season—the first one I followed with any real interest since I was blindsided with the double abominations of The Artist… Read More Top 100 Movies of the Decade (2010-2019) — 2017
To see the entire list of my 100 top movies of last decade, or to find the landing page for the other years in this series, click here. I don’t know that a great crowd of people is going out of their way to say this, but at least from where I’m sitting, 2018… Read More Top 100 Movies of the Decade (2010-2019) — 2018, Part 1
Dir. Steve McQueen. Starring Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez Widows begins with a long take of Liam Neeson and Viola Davis kissing. There’s a lot of tongue. It’s 2018, and it’s the first time I’ve seen an interracial kiss onscreen with that much tongue involved. I have said it many times, and I have… Read More Widows (2018)
Dir. Ryan Coogler. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan Everything else being equal, all of us can choose between a Golden Corral steak and a filet from a good steakhouse; the tougher choice comes when the Golden Corral option disappears and is replaced with a lobster. There are two good choices in Black… Read More Black Panther (2018)
The difference between the Academy Awards in 1932 and 2018 is as stark as the difference between baseball in 1932 and baseball now: it’s obviously the same sport just at a glance, but it could hardly be more different in terms of execution, style, and personae. How can one compare the first ceremony, which honored… Read More The 90th Academy Awards and the Possibility of Another Grand Hotel
Seeing Things Secondhand 