Love, Simon (Greg Berlanti, 2018). In adapting Becky Albertalli’s young adult novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda to the screen, director Greg Berlanti and his collaborators honor the story of a gay teenager coming into his own by structuring … Continue reading Then Playing — Love, Simon; Ad Astra; The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
It is an odd, daring experiment to build a film around a protagonist who unfailingly does the wrong thing. In Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a New York City jewelry store proprietor whose skill at garish hucksterism is … Continue reading Now Playing — Uncut Gems
In breaking down Greta Gerwig’s new film version of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women to its individual components, the natural starting point for evaluation is the faithfulness of the adaptation. Alcott’s novel made its bow a few decades before there … Continue reading Now Playing — Little Women
It’s difficult to weigh in on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker without rhapsodizing on the entirety of the intergalactic saga George Lucas launched over four decades ago, seemingly with a guilelessness that would quickly be eradicated by unexpected merchandising … Continue reading Now Playing — Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The world is so filled with knockabout absurdities nowadays that it’s easy to lose sight of the momentous circumstances that demand less immediate and constant attention. There are budding fascists to oppose and life-sustaining ecosystem roasting away due to criminal … Continue reading Now Playing — The Two Popes
Crawl (Alexandre Aja, 2019). To his credit, director Alexandre Aja clearly understands the lean and lowdown appeal of the premise to Crawl. With little fuss and effecticely shorthand character-building, Aja races headlong into the telling the story of a flooding … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Crawl; Her Smell; The Commuter
Whatever its flaws, the new version of Black Christmas makes a strong argument for the importance of having a motivation beyond exploiting brand recognition when remaking a movie. In truth, there may not be all that many current moviegoers familiar … Continue reading Now Playing — Black Christmas
I have no information about the development process of the new muckraking film Dark Waters, but I know just enough about Mark Ruffalo’s social media presence to hatch a theory that begins with the actor reading Nathaniel Rich’s article “The … Continue reading Now Playing — Dark Waters
The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg, 2019). Drawing heavily from her own experiences, Joanna Hogg crafts a film that captures the slippery ways problematic relationships become prisons of the participants’ own making. A student filmmaker named Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) falls into … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — The Souvenir; Atlantics; Long Shot
Marriage Story begins with Charlie (Adam Driver) listing the things he most appreciates about Nicole (Scarlett Johansson). Then it’s Nicole’s turn. She recites Charlie’s most admirable attributes. In each instance, a montage plays out against the voiceover, showing mundane moments … Continue reading Now Playing — Marriage Story
Coffee for Two 