The Kid Who Would Be King (Joe Cornish, 2019). After his feature directorial debut, Attack the Block, Joe Cornish seemed positioned to jostle with a few others — including Edgar Wright, one of that film’s producers — for the distinction … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up —The Kid Who Would Be King; Total Recall; The Old Man and the Gun
Avengers: Endgame is absurd. I’ve previously declared myself agog that movie screens are routinely turned over to these vibrant figures that dominated my youthful years, enveloping my fragile psyche in the protection of costumed titans who take the strange misfortune … Continue reading Now Playing — Avengers: Endgame
As the striking of the twentieth anniversary of the 1999 resounds, there’s been a revived interest in arguing that the bygone year in question might have represented the best twelve month span in the long history of cinema. That’s a … Continue reading From the Archive — A History of Violence
I enjoy tinkering with formats and structure, but I employ the practice rarely. Goofing around for the sake of it feels overly intrusive. There should be a point, as when I spoofed Quentin Tarantino’s title cards to add one more … Continue reading From the Archive — Synecdoche, New York
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. What a strange, innocent time it was, when movie theater operators first unrolled the teaser posters for … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — “The Dark Knight” movie poster
Tortilla Flat (Victor Fleming, 1942). Not long after presiding over Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz in the same calendar year, director Victor Fleming went far more small-scale with this loose adaptation of a typically scruffy John … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Tortilla Flat; Serenity; The Meg
As the new version of Dumbo soar into theaters, it seems a long lifetime since a new directorial effort from Tim Burton was cause for excitement. When I was crafting reviews for my college radio station in the early nineteen-nineties, … Continue reading From the Archive — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
It’s not all that unusual for a filmmaker to establish themself as a vibrant new voice within their first couple of features. But I can’t think of another recent instance in which a creator who was already a known quantity … Continue reading Now Playing — Us
Tomb Raider (Roar Uthaug, 2018). I saw both films that cast Angelina Jolie as adventurer Lara Croft at the time of their original releases, and I don’t remember a second of either one. I suspect the same fate awaits Tomb … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Tomb Raider; Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; Red Sparrow
I’m entirely sincere when I note it’s pleasing that so many media outlets reported on the surprise arrival of the first child of a movie biz power couple by neglecting the papa. In a culture that still routinely refers to … Continue reading From the Archive — The Squid and the Whale
Coffee for Two 