The title of the film Reality clearly refers to the main character. Reality Winner is a U.S. military veteran and translator whose high-level security clearance helped her land a job with a company contracted by the U.S. government. While working … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2023 — Number Nine
Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet, 2023). At a remote home in the French Alps, a man named Samuel (Samuel Theis) is found dead atop the snow-packed ground in front of his house. The cause is clearly a plummet from … Continue reading Then Playing — Anatomy of a Fall; Tina; Remember the Night
The Oscars Are Confused About “Barbie” by Michael Schulman A couple weeks back, one of the hosts of the addictive podcast Little Gold Men ruefully predicted that all hell would break loose online if Greta Gerwig wasn’t among the nominees … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Less I Seek My Source for Some Definitive edition
A riveting, deeply heartfelt feature debut. Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2023 — Number Ten
Where in the great pink heavens can I begin a consideration of the 2023 movie year than with the explosive phenomenon that was Barbenheimer? At a time when it still seems as if the very concept of theatrical exhibition of … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2023 — An Introduction
After a string of years where the grand finale of the Academy Awards was largely uncertain up to the point when envelopes started being torn open, today’s nominations announcement confirmed we’re in a season of foregone conclusions. The thirteen nominations … Continue reading Out of the Pink — Thoughts on the Oscar Nominations
Andrew Haigh’s latest is an emotional haymaker that boasts a remarkable performance by Andrew Scott. Continue reading Now Playing — All of Us Strangers
Stamped from the Beginning (Roger Ross Williams, 2023). Somewhat adapted from and somewhat inspired by Ibram X Kendi’s book of the same name, this documentary by Roger Ross Williams pointedly traces the creation and enforcement of racial identity as a … Continue reading Then Playing — Stamped from the Beginning; Bell, Book and Candle; Rustin
J.A. Bayona’s first full-length outing as a director was a horror movie. I thought of that film factoid quite often when watching the Spanish-born director’s latest, the docudrama Society of the Snow. Yes, Bayona builds the narrative (working with three … Continue reading Now Playing — Society of the Snow
The Killer (David Fincher, 2023). Following the prestige passion project Mank, David Fincher returns to the sort of glossy pulp that seems to most stir his cinematic heart. The Killer focuses on a hitman (Michael Fassbender) whose previously perfect professional … Continue reading Then Playing — The Killer; Maestro; Poor Things
Coffee for Two 