Directed by Pedro Almodovar Pain and Glory feels like the type of film every director with a long enough career gets around to making. It's slightly meta and certainly autobiographical, an artist reflecting on his career, his childhood and the ups and downs of life. It's influenced, as so many are, by Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, … Continue reading Pain and Glory (2019)
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Jerichow (2008)
Directed by Christian Petzold Jerichow is a film about three people who are absolutely stuck. They are a middle-aged man, Ali (Hilmi Sözer), his younger wife Laura (Nina Hoss) and their new employee, Thomas (Benno Fürmann). This being a Christian Petzold film there is a baseline of isolation, meaning that a certain degree of loneliness … Continue reading Jerichow (2008)
Lone Survivor (2013)
Directed by Peter Berg Lone Survivor is an assault on your senses. It's gritty, romantic, larger than life and frames its central four characters like they are Greek gods. Berg clearly looks up to the marines, and everything he does glorifies their brotherhood, loyalty and sacrifice, in a way that almost fetishizes it. It's a strange … Continue reading Lone Survivor (2013)
Volver (2006)
Directed by Pedro Almodovar Volver revolves around two sisters, Sole (Lola Dueñas) whose deceased mother has suddenly appeared from beyond the grave, and Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), whose daughter kills her stepfather in self-defense after he attempts to force himself on her. In both cases the storylines do not end in plotted melodrama but rather something … Continue reading Volver (2006)
Talk to Her (2002)
Directed by Pedro Almodovar How do you recommend this movie to someone without putting them off to it completely? It's the story of a friendship between men who give themselves almost entirely to the women they love, who both happen to be comatose. In the case of one of them his loyalty to a woman … Continue reading Talk to Her (2002)
Spartan (2004)
Directed by David Mamet Spartan really moves, almost right off the bat. It's an addicting kind of a movie, with Val Kilmer playing some version of 24's Jack Bauer, free and eager to bend the rules so that he might accomplish the mission in front of him. Scott (Kilmer) works for the Secret Service in some capacity, … Continue reading Spartan (2004)
Julieta (2016)
Directed by Pedro Almodovar In Julieta a mother grapples with the trauma of losing her daughter. We meet her first in the ‘present,’ where she puts a sudden end to a move from Madrid to Portugal when she sees Beatriz, her daughter’s childhood best friend. It’s seeing Beatriz which breaks the dam and floods back … Continue reading Julieta (2016)
Low Tide (2019)
Directed by Kevin McMullin Low Tide is a neat little coming of age thriller about a group of boys who find a bag of gold. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, by any means, but it’s entertaining and engrossing, telling a familiar story of the unrestrained yearning of a certain moment in your youth, with ideas … Continue reading Low Tide (2019)
Klute (1971)
Directed by Alan J. Pakula Klute works, but sometimes it feels like it shouldn't. It's an investigative thriller named for the investigating cop, John Klute (Donald Sutherland), but he's not even the main character. That would be Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda), a call girl who serves as Klute's best bet to track down the man … Continue reading Klute (1971)
Joker (2019)
Directed by Todd Phillips Joker seems to be split among critics and fans. Critics are lukewarm at best, pointing out some of the unfair representations of mental illness and the way the film borrows a whole heck of a lot from Taxi Driver and King of Comedy (and maybe Nightcrawler too), but fans just seem to love it … Continue reading Joker (2019)
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