Maggie Gyllenhaal didn’t opt for an easy task with her feature directorial debut. There’s presumably a straightforward way to to adapt Elena Ferrante’s 2008 novel, The Lost Daughter, to the screen, laying out the embers of emotion and the character … Continue reading Now Playing — The Lost Daughter
The Matrix (Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, 1999). In revisiting this ahead of the recent sequel, my reaction more or less mirrored original impressions from my opening-weekend experience in the theater what seems like centuries ago. The Wachowski siblings manage … Continue reading Then Playing — The Matrix; The Green Knight; Zola
Every Saturday, this space is given over to extol the writing of others. Because this particular Saturday lands on the first day of the new year, it seems proper to call attention to some of the articles of 2021 that … Continue reading Outside Reading — Six from 2021
I appreciate that Lana Wachowski, usually in collaboration with sibling Lilly Wachowski, tried to do other things. They didn’t always work, not entirely, but there was at least an attempt to tell different stories in eager exploitation of the lingering … Continue reading Now Playing — The Matrix Resurrections
Aaron Sorkin channels a lot of his interests into Being the Ricardos. The writer-director hits upon political bullying, television production, creatives bucking against killjoy executive, and snappish relationships predicated on a version of romance that has no apparent love in … Continue reading Now Playing — Being the Ricardos
When I delved in devotedly to superhero sagas, many Marvel Comics Calendars ago, it was generally understood that the publisher of Spider-Man’s super stories was able to maintain a more coherent continuity because they hadn’t tinkered around in alternate universes … Continue reading Now Playing — Spider-Man: No Way Home
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. From the network’s nineteen-eighties heyday into the first few years of the nineteen-nineties, MTV made stars in … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — The Ref teaser trailer
I was skeptical about Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. That was probably unwise. Although he has his fair share of missteps in his filmography, Spielberg has an almost unparalleled mastery of the traditional film narrative structure, and the famed musical … Continue reading Now Playing — West Side Story
Shiva Baby (Emma Seligman, 2021). Written and directed by Emma Seligman, Shiva Baby locks its gaze on Danielle (Rachel Sennott), an emotionally careening college student whose various tribulations converge at a shiva observance she attends with her parents (Polly Draper … Continue reading Then Playing — Shiva Baby; The Velvet Underground; Nightmare Alley
Moana (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2016). Nearly thirty years after Ron Clements and John Musker were centrally involved in the rescue of Walt Disney Animation Studios by directing The Little Mermaid, they go back to the place where it’s … Continue reading Then Playing — Moana; Adrienne; The Last Duel
Coffee for Two 