Face front, True Believers. Who can doubt that this is indeed the Marvel Age of Movies? The comic book publisher that effectively launched their long climb to multi-media dominance over fifty years ago with the release of Fantastic Four #1 … Continue reading Time, time, time, see what’s become of me
At this point in the director’s career, it may be easier and more instructive to catalog how a new Wes Anderson film is different than its predecessors. For example, his latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is packed with all the … Continue reading What a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen in a blink of an eye and be gone from me
I once posited in this space that Veronica Mars was one of the unsung (or at least under-sung) creations in the long transformation of the television series model from collections of loosely connected episodes to the mythology-heavy novels divided into … Continue reading Now she walks through her sunken dream to the seat with the clearest view and she’d hooked on the silver screen
Before he started directing feature films, Spike Jonze had a deserved reputation a master crafter of wildly entertaining and even innovative music videos. However, I think his best single piece of work away from the big screen is clear: the … Continue reading I wouldn’t be me if she wasn’t her
This might seem like a strange observation, but it’s a reaction I can’t quite shake: I think Inside Llewyn Davis is the gentlest film Joel and Ethan Coen have ever made. There’s a lot of aggression across the shared filmography … Continue reading But I’ve got no home, nowhere to roam, don’t even have a place to sing my songs
One of the benefits of getting to my reviews later than the full-on professional critical community is that I can see the ebb and flow of the cultural consensus before I weigh in. None of that shapes my reaction to … Continue reading We could jet in a stolen car, but I bet we wouldn’t get too far
There is a slender but focused plot to the latest comedy by Alexander Payne, Nebraska. But it seems fairly clear that the story is ultimately a means to an end. That’s not to imply that Payne is indifferent to the … Continue reading I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart will never again, sir, tear us from each other’s hearts
By now, David O. Russell has openly and repeatedly acknowledged that his 2010 film, The Fighter, represented a key artistic turning point for him. His first film after years of futility following the release of I ♥ Huckabees, the boxing … Continue reading Knock on the door and the door knocks back
In the film Dallas Buyers Club, when Ron Woodruff is told he has AIDS, he’s also told he has thirty days to live. Much is made of this countdown to mortality, with helpful onscreen title cards occasionally providing an update … Continue reading The boys next door, the mums and dads, newlyweds and nearly-deads
It’s been quite the season for movie stars portraying endurance in the face of overwhelming odds while operating in isolation. While premieres and the resulting opening chatter took place earlier, across successive weekends Sandra Bullock tumbled through space and Tom … Continue reading Odds and ends, odds and ends, lost time is not found again
Coffee for Two 