At the 96th Academy Awards, Diane Warren failed to win Best Original Song for the fifteenth time in fifteen tries. Shockingly, “The Fire Inside,” written for the movie about the guy who did not in fact come up with the idea for hot Cheetos, did not win. On the other hand, I’m willing to wager… Read More The Warren Index: Will They Win a Competitive Oscar Before Diane Warren?
The actor: Oscar Isaac The character: Llewyn Davis The film: Inside Llewyn Davis The quote: “If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song.” Think of your favorite Coen Brothers line, or maybe the best Coen Brothers line (presumably a more difficult project, given that I think I could… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #55
Dir. Denis Villeneuve. Starring Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Sharon Duncan-Brewster Spoilers follow. I mean, there’s not that much that happens in this sucker, but it’s a recent release, so…spoilers. Friends, Prestige television has been affected by a powerful and terrible scourge in the years since I gave up on it. Presumably guided by the perspective… Read More Dune (2021)
Dir. J.J. Abrams. Starring Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega There are spoilers, but can you spoil something that was already rotten? Ha! Ha! Ha! This would be a bad movie even if The Last Jedi had never existed, one reliant on lame screenwriting, quests which are urgent but never important, and a centrist distaste for bloodletting.… Read More Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
For a brief introduction and a running list of movies covered in this project, click here. 100) Ex Machina (2015), directed by Alex Garland I have such hopes for Garland, who appears to be groping his way towards an autopsy of alienation. Sunshine, which he wrote, is most interesting when it is concerned about human failure and… Read More Better than BFI’s Top 100: 100-96
Dir. Alex Garland. Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Alicia Vikander Dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin There are two things which really stand out about Free Solo. The first is that El Capitan is really tall, and the second is that Alex Honnold is not a likable person. I don’t want to pile on the guy, because… Read More Ex Machina (2015) and Free Solo (2018)
Dir. Rian Johnson. Starring Daisy Ridley, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver Spoilers below. If you love bar scenes, then Star Wars is historically a pretty good bet for you. There have been three Star Wars movies which make a Death Star the centerpiece of their plots; there are at least three Star Wars movies which place… Read More Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
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) L.A. Confidential (1997), directed by Curtis Hanson Other movies in this series are going… Read More 100 Exceptional American Movies in 10 Genres: Period, 10-6
Dir. Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman Llewyn Davis (Isaac) has made an accidental habit of picking up orange cats. (I love cats. I confess to some slight distraction when they were on screen. Also, this movie has two cats, so by the standard the Academy set after The Artist, and… Read More Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Dir. J.J. Abrams. Starring Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford, Adam Driver This is absolutely riddled with spoilers. If you want a review without spoilers, this is not the one you’re looking for. Let’s get this out of the way. The Force Awakens is a good movie. It is not a great movie, but it is significantly… Read More Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens
Seeing Things Secondhand 