Little Monsters (Abe Forsythe, 2019). This comedic horror romp doesn’t have much to recommended it beyond the bright charisma of Lupita Nyong’o, but that just might be enough. Nyong’o plays Caroline, a sweet kindergarten teacher in Australia. A field trip … Continue reading Then Playing — Little Monsters; Underwater; Like a Boss
#10 — Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016) Part of the progression of cinema during the twenty-tens involved an ongoing discussion — and corresponding recalibration — of who gets to tell which stories. Cultural appropriation wasn’t an entirely novel concept ahead of the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Ten
Cameraperson (Kirsten Johnson, 2016). A reminiscence in the form of a cinematic scrapbook, Kristen Johnson assembles footage that represents her work across a couple decades as a cinematographer for documentaries. Less a greatest-hits clip show than a procession of moments … Continue reading Then Playing — Cameraperson, Wild Rose, Women Who Loved Cinema
#11 — Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010) In the society where Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) grew up and still persists, the rules are tricky and unyielding. Ree is a teenager residing in the Ozarks. Family woes mean she is charged … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Eleven
Dick Johnson made his movie debut in Cameraperson, the exceptional documentary directed by his daughter, Kirsten Johnson. The earlier feature is a memoir rendered through spare footage, mostly material Johnson shoot in her capacity as a cinematographer on dozens of … Continue reading Now Playing — Dick Johnson is Dead
#12 — Her (Spike Jonze, 2013) The basic plot description of Her, written and directed by Spike Jonze, implies that the film is a despairing broadside against modern technology. In an indeterminate near future, Theodore Twombley (Joaquin Phoenix) is a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Twelve
#13 — Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019) Looking back, it’s remarkable that Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite was the first foreign language film to claim the Academy Award for Best Picture. There’s first the oddity that no film reliant on subtitles to reach … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Thirteen
Palm Springs (Max Barbakow, 2020). Constructed around the sort of metaphysical comedic premise that allows for careening chaos and popping-candy metaphors for the toil of personal development, Palm Springs is a sprightly diversion. Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) … Continue reading Then Playing — Palm Springs; Shirley; The Go-Go’s
Sibil Richardson doesn’t dispute the fact that she and her husband, Rob Richardson, committed a crime. She lays it out plainly. The two of them were facing a dire situation with their small business, and their place of desperation led … Continue reading Now Playing — Time
#14 — 20th Century Women (Mike Mills, 2016) It dismays me to know that 20th Century Women is a period piece, roughly as removed in time from the era it depicts as, say, Steven Spielberg’s 1987 World War II drama, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Fourteen
Coffee for Two 