Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is a sentimental, Linklater-esque nostalgia dream tinged at the edges with a brooding darkness.  These are all qualities absorbed through observation rather than any dictated narration, with the sun-bleached scene established through images of characters driving peacefully through Los Angeles, listening to the radio and … Continue reading Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019)

The Limey (1999)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh The Limey has the feel of an old French film from the 1960s, something like Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, Francois Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player or Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows.  What I remember most about those films is the gun, the non-conventional editing and an ending that doesn't always offer you what you want … Continue reading The Limey (1999)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Directed by Andrew Dominik The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an audacious title, right?  It reads like a newspaper headline in all caps, and the two and a half hour film is broken up with narration from the point of view of an unknown journalist or biographer. The story accelerates … Continue reading The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)