Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda "I wonder why it is that men can't love the present." After the Storm splits its story amongst several family members, though the main character at the center of all of this is a once-successful novelist who is now a gambling-addicted private investigator spending most of his time tailing his ex-wife … Continue reading After the Storm (2016)
Month: December 2018
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (2018)
Directed by Morgan Neville Morgan Neville has had quite the year, and the subjects of his two 2018 documentaries, this and Won't You Be My Neighbor? couldn't be more different. One was Mr. Rogers, the man you wish was your grandpa, and the other is Orson Welles. This documentary chronicles the struggle for Welles to finish … Continue reading They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (2018)
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Directed (for some reason) by Bryan Singer Bohemian Rhapsody took a long time to get to the screen, mostly due, from what I can tell, to the push and pull between those who wanted to examine the true story behind Freddie Mercury and the band and those who sought to maintain a certain mystique to … Continue reading Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Total Recall (1990)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven's movies have a knack for raising grand, philosophical questions about the world which he rushes through in order to tell a more entertaining, even silly story. It's in that rush to move past the horrifying implications of these dystopian worlds, as if they don't deserve a second thought, that … Continue reading Total Recall (1990)
Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)
Directed by Monte Hellman Ride in the Whirlwind is one of Monte Hellman's two bleak, sparse westerns made with Jack Nicholson in 1966. The other is an existential little thing called The Shooting. Like that film this one is brief and slow at the same time. They chronicle ever tightening nooses, so to speak, as a … Continue reading Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)
Wildlife (2018)
Directed by Paul Dano Wildlife is a tense, bleak family drama set in the early 1960s, kind of like Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road (2008). Both films deal with young married couples who are no longer happy and don't know why. Presumably they were sold a false bill of goods about the American Dream, particularly in postwar … Continue reading Wildlife (2018)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
Directed by John Huston In Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison a marine and a nun find themselves stranded on an island together. This sounds like it's leading to a punchline, but John Huston's film is much more empathetic to the internal code of each character, the respective forces by which they abided that have stranded them on … Continue reading Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957)
Memphis Belle (1990)
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones Memphis Belle is a pretty straightforward World War II film, but I was smitten with it. Maybe it's the cast, composed of welcome and familiar faces like Matthew Modine, a young Harry Connick Jr., Eric Stoltz, Courtney Gains, Tate Donovan or Sean Astin, as well as the always calming presence of … Continue reading Memphis Belle (1990)
RoboCop (1987)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven RoboCop is a wild movie. It's a fun action movie with layers upon layers of satire. It's dark and grim but also fun and absurd. It's a version of Detroit straight out of Gotham, where crime isn't just rampant but there are movie villains everywhere you look. They laugh like hyenas, … Continue reading RoboCop (1987)
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)
Directed by Bill Morrison Dawson City: Frozen Time covers the Gold Rush, the history of film and the quick rise and decline of a small town in Western Canada, all instigated by the 1978 discovery of old silent films believed to have been lost forever. Outside of the opening and closing handful of minutes there … Continue reading Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)
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