Nightmare Alley (Guillermo del Toro, 2021). Director Guillermo del Toro brings characteristic visual panache and gleeful excitement over the most lurid doings to this adaptation of a 1946 William Lindsay Gresham novel that was previously brought to the screen not … Continue reading Then Playing — Nightmare Alley; Moonstruck; Greenland
Gas Food Lodging (Allison Anders, 1992). Here is early nineteen-nineties independent U.S. filmmaking in all its charm and shortcoming. Gas Food Lodging is a small story rendered with intimate emotional detail and acted with wildly varying ability. Simultaneously endearing and … Continue reading Then Playing — Gas Food Lodging; The Tragedy of Macbeth; C’mon C’mon
Respect (Liesl Tommy, 2021). In her feature directorial debut, Liesl Tommy brings a lot of panache to the familiar form of a music icon’s biopic. Tracing the youth and professional ascendance of Aretha Franklin (played in childhood by Skye Dakota … Continue reading Then Playing — Respect; Red Rocket; Belfast
Hallelujah (King Vidor, 1929). Hampered by problematic stereotypes imposed by studio leadership that was otherwise unwilling to fund a production featuring a cast entirely comprised of Black performers, Hallelujah nonetheless provides a hint as how different the Golden Age of … Continue reading Then Playing — Hallelujah; Ghostbusters: Afterlife; Villain
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021). Following the inspired The Big Short and the unwatchable Vice, director Adam McKay continues his run as a satiric auteur of lefty outrage with this onion skin–thin allegory of political indifference to the climate … Continue reading Then Playing — Don’t Look Up; Paper Moon; The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Spencer (Pablo Larraín, 2021). Chilean director Pablo Larraín brings the airy, arty approach of his 2016 film Jackie to another iconic female figure on the world stage. As in the earlier drama, Larraín keeps the focus on a few days, … Continue reading Then Playing — Spencer; No Man of Her Own; The Southerner
The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ (Alice Guy-Blaché, 1906). As the title implies, this early silent film from director Alice Guy-Blaché covers the whole life of Jesus Christ in its relatively brief running time. It’s primarily a … Continue reading Then Playing — The Birth, the Life and the Death of Christ; The Sea of Grass; Times Square
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
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
