Directed by Paul Mazursky In Alex in Wonderland a Hollywood director, Alex Morrison (Donald Sutherland) plays a thinly veiled Paul Mazursky, a bohemian artist who struggles in search of his next movie idea. We will dissolve into Alex's mind as he loses sense of himself, floating into and out of reality. Alex will 'meet' Federico Fellini … Continue reading Alex in Wonderland (1970)
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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)
Coming Home (1978)
Directed by Hal Ashby Hal Ashby once worked as an editor under William Wyler, and Coming Home has a lot in common with Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Both are anti-war films concerning the tough readjustment into society for several returning veterans. Ashby's film tells this tale through a romance between Sally Hyde (Jane … Continue reading Coming Home (1978)
Night Moves (1975)
Directed by Arthur Penn A film noir with shades of Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye and Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Night Moves is a Los Angeles-based detective story in which the private eye hero finds himself in over his head in a convoluted plot wherein nothing is as it seems. In contrast with those other two films, with finales … Continue reading Night Moves (1975)
Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town (2017)
Directed by Christian Papierniak Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town is a punk rock little movie made in the style of something from the early 90s, deeply colored with qualities of other Gen X movies. Mackenzie Davis plays Izzy, down on her luck and stewing in her own misery. When she learns that her ex-boyfriend Roger (Alex … Continue reading Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town (2017)
The Grifters (1990)
Directed by Stephen Frears What a strange little ride. I think I love The Grifters purely because of how odd, twisted and inspired it is. The 1990 film feels like a colorized version of something from the 1940s, complete with the film noir tropes, femme fatales, Elmer Bernstein music, misdirection, corrupted souls and mistaken identities. The … Continue reading The Grifters (1990)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Directed by Jonathan Marstow Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is an entertaining enough action movie, but it falls flat when inevitably compared to the previous two Terminator movies. The first was a simple, streamlined horror movie of sorts, and the second remixed the first, turning Schwarzenegger into the hero and for the first time positioning … Continue reading Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
The Terminator (1984)
Directed by James Cameron The Terminator is a lot more silly than I remembered. It’s fun but not quite as exciting as I imagined, though I think I have a much stronger memory of the sequel, Terminator II: Judgment Day. You can see the seams of this movie, as with most of the best 80’s … Continue reading The Terminator (1984)
The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
Directed by Susanna Fogel The Spy Who Dumped Me has a lot in common with the old Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn thriller/romance/comedy Charade (1963). In both cases the protagonist finds herself caught up in a world of deception and murder thanks to her connection to a dead or dying romantic interest. In Charade it was Hepburn's deceased husband, … Continue reading The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)
6 Balloons (2018)
Directed by Marja-Lewis Ryan Told over a single night, 6 Balloons is a very intimate film about the relationship between Katie (Abbi Jacobson) and her heroin-addicted brother, Seth (Dave Franco). The title is a pun that draws attention to the surprise birthday Katie has planned for her boyfriend and the heroin from which her brother is … Continue reading 6 Balloons (2018)
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