Directed by Richard Linklater Before Sunrise is the first of three movies forming the Before trilogy.  Each film follows Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy) but just for a small amount of time.  In this case, the Before Sunrise story takes place over a handful of hours, yet in that timespan we learn so much about Jesse … Continue reading Before Sunrise (1995)

Directed by Alan Parker The Commitments is a musical, but only because we follow a band that plays music.  It's the same way Once (another movie featuring Glen Hansard) is a musical, and it feels more like The Mighty Ducks, another story about a group of ragtag individuals teaming up to accomplish some kind of goal. Despite … Continue reading The Commitments (1991)

Directed by Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman is a very good super hero movie and an okay movie.  I came to the realization (or theory) that almost every superhero movie has the same act 1 and act 3, and that act 2 is where it gets to set itself apart. In this case, act 1 deals … Continue reading Wonder Woman (2017)

Directed by Theodore Melfi Okay, fuck this, I just wrote a whole review for this film, and it didn't save, and I lost it.  Godammit.  I don't really feel like writing this all again, but maybe I can summarize my points and write something much more concise. Hidden Figures is Oscar-bait.  I don't mean that … Continue reading Hidden Figures (2016)

Directed by Brian De Palma Raising Cain is silly and extreme, a little deranged and certainly a lot of fun.  The best part of the film is the final ten minutes which on its own feels like an accomplishment since many movies struggle more as the story wears on and the intriguing premise wears thin. … Continue reading Raising Cain (1992)

Directed by Peter Berg Peter Berg's inclination is to make everything feel real.  There was an emphasis on doing so in his tv show, Friday Night Lights, and you can feel it again here in Patriot's Day.  Part of that intended realism is telling real stories.  Before this you had two other Mark Wahlberg/Peter Berg movies, Lone Survivor … Continue reading Patriot’s Day (2016)

Directed by Josh Trank I loved Chronicle when I first saw it back in 2012.  It's another found footage film, released at a time when such a genre wasn't quite played out, but now it feels quite limited and a little dull.  The concept, basically a superhero origin story told through found footage recordings, is an … Continue reading Chronicle (2012)

Directed by the Coen Brothers The Man Who Wasn't There is about Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton), but aside from an early, ill-advised plan to blackmail the man sleeping with his wife, Ed doesn't really do anything.  Ed's most defining characteristic is his silence, even towards his wife, and yet the film ends with a … Continue reading The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)

Directed by Frank Oz Death at a Funeral is a comedy about chaos and selfishness and finally family, because it's always nice to end on a positive.  The story centers around the funeral of a man who is mostly undefined, precisely because he's dead the whole time.  But somehow this man is enough of a … Continue reading Death at a Funeral (2007)

Directed by Sidney Lumet In The Verdict, Paul Newman plays Frank Galvin, a disgraced lawyer who determines his latest case to be his one shot at redemption.  The case comes from the sister of woman who has been in a vegetative state for years due to the administration of the wrong kind of anesthesia from a … Continue reading The Verdict (1982)