Dir. John Lee Hancock. Starring Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch Ray Kroc (Keaton) has no gift for sales pitches, which is the first sign we have that he’s built for something very different. The chicken and the egg pitch he has for the five-spindle milkshake maker he’s hocking never works on anyone, although… Read More The Founder (2016)
Dir. Peter Farrelly. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini Mahershala Ali won his second Academy Award for playing Don Shirley in this movie, and it’s an extremely endearing performance. He exemplifies “trim” in this picture, from his beautiful clothes to his neat facial hair to his spotless elocution. Watching someone who has every inch… Read More Green Book (2018)
Dir. Ang Lee. Starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams More than a decade later, Brokeback Mountain is undoubtedly the best American movie of 2005 and, purely from back of the napkin work, probably one of the best American movies of the aughts. It’s a movie of striking bravery simply for the topic at hand; in 2005,… Read More Brokeback Mountain (2005)
During my student teaching (it was technically a “practicum” and not “student teaching,” but that’s another kettle of sardines), I made it to school every day. On one day, though, I couldn’t stay long enough to teach anything. I managed to get up at 6:30, throw on my clothes, drive over to the school, and… Read More Freaks and Geeks S1E7, “Carded and Discarded”
Seeing Things Secondhand 