Directed by Mike Mills I can't write objectively about Beginners because it is probably, presently my favorite film of all time. It's a lullaby, a soft breeze, the first sip of coffee, the cords of a familiar song, a towel after a dip in the ocean, and it is that moment you realize your car, which … Continue reading Beginners (2010)
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Pickup on South Street (1953)
Directed by Sam Fuller Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) is a subway pickpocket who lives in a shack on the waterfront, likening him to a sewer rat, hiding in the shadows. He emerges only when he needs something and is otherwise content to live a solitary life. He's a part of an underground community of pickpockets, … Continue reading Pickup on South Street (1953)
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Directed by Alan Parker It's 1964, and two FBI detectives descend on a small town in Mississippi in search of three boys who have gone missing. We know these boys (two white, one black) have been murdered by the Klu Klux Klan, so the detective's journey has little to do with the search itself but … Continue reading Mississippi Burning (1988)
Ariel (1988)
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki The "Ariel" is a large ship to which Taisto will flee after he escapes from prison. It represents the only freedom for a man who has spent his whole life trapped. Accompanying him will be Irmeli and her young son, willing participants whose eagerness to escape suggests more about the poor quality … Continue reading Ariel (1988)
The Death of Stalin (2017)
Directed by Armando Iannucci The Death of Stalin is a blend of comedy and Greek tragedy. It's written/directed by Armando Iannucci, the man behind 2009's In the Loop and the HBO show Veep. This time around he finds a new location and setting for his fast-talking, improv-heavy, insult-laden political comedy, 1953 in the Soviet Union. Many scenes … Continue reading The Death of Stalin (2017)
The Running Man (1987)
Directed by Paul Michael Glaser I say this affectionately, but The Running Man is one of the worst films I think I've ever seen. I'm sure there is a lot about that statement that's quite unfair, but jeez it's tough to get through. The very very 80's movie is loaded with cliches, tropes, underwhelming quips, poor … Continue reading The Running Man (1987)
The Match Factory Girl (1990)
Directed by Aki Kaurismäki Iris Rukka has sadness etched all over her face. With a slender build, sunken eyes and a silent disposition, she is pain incarnate. She hardly speaks throughout the film and thus exists more like just another part of the scenery, as if she is just another prop to be arranged in the … Continue reading The Match Factory Girl (1990)
A Quiet Place (2018)
Directed by John Krasinski A Quiet Place was quite the buzzed about movie for a little while there, and it only took me about half a year to catch up. I avoided the movie in theaters because, frankly, I'm terrible at watching horror movies. Every jump scare terrifies me, and this movie about deadly blind … Continue reading A Quiet Place (2018)
Christine (2016)
Directed by Antonio Campos Okay, so Christine is a mix of Network (1976), Nightcrawler (2014), Blue Jasmine (2013) and Taxi Driver (1976). Set in 1974, the story of a local news reporter plays out in the shadow of the Woodward and Bernstein takedown of Richard Nixon which is chronicled in another 1976 film, All the President's Men. Christine Chubbuck, the … Continue reading Christine (2016)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Directed by Tay Garnett It seems there were a lot of unhappy marriages in postwar America, one in which the woman married too young to an older man who could promise financial security and little more. It's these types of marriages, at least cinematically-speaking, that lead to the Double Indemnity-esque murder plots, where the conspirators finally … Continue reading The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
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