She Finds Meaning in the Dark by Manohla Dargis In this strange, unsettled time, there are many who are facing far greater hardships than me and most of my friends. For this I am a grateful. But everyone’s context is … Continue reading Outside Reading — See You on the Other Side edition
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. The past few days … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Critic
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Michael Dougherty, 2019). By now, Hollywood has offered up a mountain of evidence of their collective inability to do right by the fire-breathing behemoth first brought to the screen by Toho Studios and director Ishirō … Continue reading Then Playing — Godzilla: King of the Monsters; The Hustle; The Dead Don’t Die
#44 — The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, 2017) The path always led to The Shape of Water for Guillermo del Toro. Across a career that begin firmly in the horror genre before expanding to other hybrids, practically of … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Four
#45 — Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010) Martin Scorsese didn’t owe us any more high art. That was clear. By the time the calendar flipped over to the twenty-tens, Scorsese had already amassed forty years of astonishing accomplishment, and he … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Five
#49 — Sidney Poitier as Tommy Tyler in Edge of the City (Martin Ritt, 1957) Sidney Poitier became an icon so quickly that it was all too easy to lose sight of him as an actor. When he claimed an Oscar … Continue reading Greatish Performances #49
#46 — Eighth Grade (Bo Burnham, 2018) Crafting a poignant, painful seriocomic film about the travails of middle school isn’t that novel of a feat any longer. The time-tested subgenre of coming of age films has long since expanded from … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Six
Garbage Language by Molly Young Ever-wonderful Molly Young wittily, wisely addresses the scourge of the modern workplace: communication twisted into a buzzy abomination meant to confer seriousness and impenetrable expertise. The most tellingly obtuse words and phrasing are brought out … Continue reading Outside Reading — Parallel Path edition
Richard Jewell (Clint Eastwood, 2019). Another entry in Clint Eastwood’s late career run of pedantic, politically confused prestige dramas, Richard Jewell follows the title security guard (Paul Walter Hauser) during the grueling stretch after his discovery of a bomb at … Continue reading Then Playing — Richard Jewell; Men in Black: International; Terminator: Dark Fate
#47 — The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018) When powdered wigs, heavy dresses, and ornate waistcoats are hauled to set, the resulting movie is likely to be stiffened by affected refinement. Adhering to patterns set by countless period dramas before, action … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Forty-Seven
Coffee for Two 