January 6th In English, you’ll sometimes see this given the name of the novel it’s based on, A Judgment in Stone. If I were naming the movie, I would probably default to something a little less grand than its French title or its English one. At the risk of jacking up the comedy factor a… Read More 2023 Movie Diary (1/6-1/10): Meet the Gladneys
Dir. Noah Baumbach. Starring Jason Hamilton, Chris Eigeman, Olivia D’Abo Image links back here The difference between Metropolitan and Kicking and Screaming is about a decade’s worth of perspective. Watching Kicking and Screaming I wished that Whit Stillman had been the one making it rather than Baumbach in the way that people prefer butter to margarine. (The presence of Chris… Read More Kicking and Screaming (1995)
Dir. Noah Baumbach. Starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Azhy Robertson This came out yesterday, so I guess spoilers, but also if you’re worried about spoilers don’t go on Twitter either. Until the fight, I felt like Marriage Story worked. The fight is not a bad scene, especially if one was waiting for an earthshaking screaming match to… Read More Marriage Story (2019)
Dir. Noah Baumbach. Starring Ben Stiller, Adam Driver, Naomi Watts Would-be documentarian Josh (Stiller) is full of it, which I think we all could have learned from the trailer, but there are two scenes which prove that even from a filmmaking perspective he’s lost his grip. The second scene is for his sheer pretension; over… Read More While We’re Young (2015)
Dir. Noah Baumbach. Starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Michael Zegen Frances Ha is occasionally a relentless series of moments far too short to even be vignettes. They are visual one-liners, which is a seriously risky way to make a movie and the only good way to tell a story about Frances (Gerwig). But for a little… Read More Frances Ha (2012)
You can read up on the basis for this series here, and also find links to other posts in the series. Movies I’ve reviewed on this site have a link in the title which you can follow to read my full review. 10) Long Day’s Journey into Night (1962), directed by Sidney Lumet Picture links… Read More 100 Exceptional American Movies in 10 Genres: Family Drama, 10-6
Dir. Noah Baumbach. Starring Jeff Daniels, Jesse Eisenberg, Laura Linney. (Featured image links here.) The Squid and the Whale is scathing when it wants to be, which is just about all the time. For a time, Walt (Eisenberg) is the most odious of the family, a teenager who deserves the kind of tongue-lashing that Roald Dahl could… Read More The Squid and the Whale (2005)
Seeing Things Secondhand 