Directed by Kelly Reichardt In River of Grass an existentially bored housewife searches for an identity. The story concerns her, a similarly lonely loose cannon and a lost gun. She is Cozy, he is Lee (Larry Fessenden), and the gun belongs to her detective father. That they are all so neatly connected perhaps stretches plausibility, but … Continue reading River of Grass (1994)
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)/Dave (1993)
Directed by Frank Capra/Ivan Reitman I happened to see Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Ivan Reitman's Dave on the same day and was stuck on the similarities between the two feel good movies. To say they are "feel good" might be to ignore an overt ugliness and corruption of Washington DC as presented onscreen … Continue reading Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)/Dave (1993)
The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Directed by Riley Stearns A man easily intimidated willfully transforms himself into the thing that intimidates him. It's following an assault at the hands of a motorcycle gang that Casey Davies (Jesse Eisenberg) enrolls in classes at a local dojo, in awe of the calm, cold confidence of its Sensei (Alessandro Nivola). His subsequent training … Continue reading The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
Funny Ha Ha (2002)
Directed by Andrew Bujalski It's hard to describe the appeal of Funny Ha Ha. It's an early entry, perhaps the first, in the unofficial "mumble core" movement, those films made on tiny budgets among friends, possibly improvised and with not so great sound quality. These are stories about young adults working their way through their young … Continue reading Funny Ha Ha (2002)
The Handmaiden (2016)
Directed by Park Chan-wook The Handmaiden is hyper-everything. It's a Tarantino-esque revenge thriller told from multiple points of view with several characters conning each other. The film is neatly broken up into three parts, each one defined by a particular scheme which becomes further undermined until the end, like a series of dominoes falling. It's … Continue reading The Handmaiden (2016)
A Separation (2011)
Directed by Asghar Farhadi The Separation opens with a married couple, Nader and Simin, arguing before a judge. They are in a divorce court, but neither wants to get divorced. She wants to move abroad immediately to give their daughter, Termeh, a better life, and he wants to wait a little longer to care for … Continue reading A Separation (2011)
The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
Directed by Jim Jarmusch "I’m just sick of zombies, man. Like, the real zombies that are just walking around us, not paying attention to anything, letting the end of the world happen. There’s a throwaway line in Only Lovers Left Alive where the couple talks about humans being zombies — because they’re not conscious of … Continue reading The Dead Don’t Die (2019)
Aniara (2018)
Directed by Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja Aniara is like if you took Wall-E, Solaris, Passengers and A Ghost Story and put them in a blender, and then you sprinkled in a little Lars von Trier for good measure. It's a story that takes place in a hermetically sealed world, a large space ship taking passengers on a three week … Continue reading Aniara (2018)
Dark Phoenix (2019)
Directed by Simon Kinberg At first Dark Phoenix, by way of its title and prologue, seems to narrow its focus to Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), much as Logan did for Wolverine. Then it turns out to be the loud, obnoxious finale to the most recent rebrand of the X-men franchise, choosing to end the story with an … Continue reading Dark Phoenix (2019)
Memories of Murder (2003)
Directed by Bong Joon-ho Memories of Murder is a thriller about the search for a small-town serial killer in 1986. It's a genre movie, I suppose, but what makes it so good are all the things that might be half-assed in other versions of this movie. It balances unexpected humor and pathos, and it stars … Continue reading Memories of Murder (2003)
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