Top Ten Movies of 2024 — Number One
Without even an iota of doubt, my pick for the best film of 2024 Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2024 — Number One
Tag: sean baker
Then Playing — Trap; Heretic; Anora
Reviews of films directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, and Sean Baker Continue reading Then Playing — Trap; Heretic; Anora
Then Playing — Respect; Red Rocket; Belfast
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
Top Ten Movies of 2017 — Number Ten
Director Sean Baker is committed to using his art to give voice to the members of society who are too easily diminished. That’s what he did with the marvelous Tangerine, from 2015, and that’s what he does with The Florida … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2017 — Number Ten
Playing Catch-Up — Payment on Demand; The Florida Project; Money Monster
Payment on Demand (Curtis Bernhardt, 1951). Bette Davis was a tough customer from the very beginning, but as she edged into middle age there was a special pleasure in watching her disdainfully browbeat all those wronged her. In Payment on … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Payment on Demand; The Florida Project; Money Monster
Top Ten Movies of 2015 — Number Six
I’m tempted to name Tangerine as the boldest film of the year, although not really for the reasons that might immediately seem the impetus for that praise. Yes, the film gives its primary focus to a pair of transexual women of color (Mya Taylor and Kitani Kiki Rodriguez), both sex workers in Los Angeles, with a side consideration of the Armenian diaspora in the same city. Across the board, these aren’t communities or topics that most filmmakers, even those who are proudly independent voices, are especially anxious to address. Yet, the immersive view of these populations isn’t what makes the … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2015 — Number Six
Baker, Baumbach, Endfield, Hall and Williams, Jacobs
Big Hero 6 (Don Hall and Chris Williams, 2014). Like just about everyone else, I believe The Lego Movie should have been Best Animated Feature Academy Award nominee (and I appreciate the creators’ inspired cheeky resilience in the face of the snub). After seeing Big Hero 6, though, I’m not sure naming the most worthy victor in the category was quite as simple as the chagrined consensus suggested. Developed after Disney Studios rummaged through the big trunk of misfit concepts stored up by their acquisition Marvel, the computer animated film about a young robotics genius who responds to personal hardship … Continue reading Baker, Baumbach, Endfield, Hall and Williams, Jacobs
Coffee for Two 