Directed by Donald Petrie There's a real Terms of Endearment vibe going on in Mystic Pizza, even beyond the thick 80's-ness of each film.  They are stories about family and the ways family keeps you sane when everything else conspires against you.  While that 1983 Oscar winning film portrayed such an idea (to tragic ends) over the … Continue reading Mystic Pizza (1988)

Directed by Ryan Johnson Star Wars: The Last Jedi has something to say about the past, and apparently this has stirred up some fan backlash.  The film is all about letting go of the past and about the gray area between good and evil.  For a universe of films partially inspired by old pulp stories … Continue reading Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Directed by Carol Reed Pulp novelist Holly Martins hops off the train in Vienna and quickly learns that his friend and host Harry Lime is dead.  His first response is to get drunk and attempt to fight the police officer who besmirches Lime's name, calling him a criminal.  When a British official asks Martins to … Continue reading The Third Man (1949)

Directed by James Franco I've never seen The Room, but you don't need to to watch The Disaster Artist.  Watching this comedy with a crowd, I got the sense that the experience of watching the original 'bad' movie isn't much different than this one.  James Franco's film tries to and succeeds in recapturing the communal joy of … Continue reading The Disaster Artist (2017)

Directed by Kent Jones In 1962, young French filmmaker Francois Truffaut sat down with Alfred Hitchcock to talk in depth through Hitchcock's filmography.  Hitchcock/Truffaut discusses the impact of that 8 day conversation, both in terms of changing the public's opinion of Hitchcock from an entertainer to an artist and though the effect it had on … Continue reading Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Directed by Ari Folman The Congress is quite the experience.  It's a philosophical science-fiction movie set both in a version of our present reality as well as a deeply disturbing distant future.  Robin Wright plays a version of herself, and the self-awareness of the film adds to the theme of representation and identity.  In The Congress, … Continue reading The Congress (2013)

Directed by Craig Gillespie I, Tonya has been described as the Goodfellas of figure skating.  It's a wild movie, both violent and occasionally hilarious, with a momentum that carries throughout the entire film.  Characters constantly break the fourth wall to comment on the events of the story with some foresight and the same hindsight that today's … Continue reading I, Tonya (2017)

Directed by Alexander Payne The only reason Downsizing isn't my least favorite film of the year is because I chose to see Geostorm a few bad decisions ago. What makes Downsizing so disappointing is the utter blandness of a film with an intriguing comic premise and a hell of a lot of talent behind the production.  Alexander Payne is … Continue reading Downsizing (2017)

Directed by Taika Waititi Hunt for the Wilderpeople has the energy of an animated film.  The paternal bond between a crusty old curmudgeon and a doughy, talkative young boy strongly resembles Pixar's Up (2009).  Beyond that Taika Waititi's sense of humor is extremely playful and innocent.  It feels straight from the imagination of a 13 year old … Continue reading Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

Directed by Alexander Mackendrick Sweet Smell of Success is a film noir all about the corrupting nature of capitalism.  Our protagonist, Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) hustles through a busy New York nightlife, desperate to pull any strings to get his clients mentioned in the right articles.  He's a press agent, viewed by others as a scourge … Continue reading Sweet Smell of Success (1957)