Directed by Rebecca Miller Jack and his daughter Rose live together on an isolated, mostly self-sustaining community that once housed dozens of young, free-spirited hippies. He is dying, and she has it in mind to kill herself when he does. If her pronouncement frightens him, he doesn't show it. Instead Jack (Daniel Day-Lewis) quietly resolves … Continue reading The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)
Paul Dano
Meek’s Cutoff (2010)
Directed by Kelly Reichardt In Meek's Cutoff a small group consisting of three families and a hired guide get lost on their way to the Willamette Valley. They are already lost when we meet them, and they remain lost when we leave them. In the middle there is some deliberation, drama and finally the breakdown of … Continue reading Meek’s Cutoff (2010)
Wildlife (2018)
Directed by Paul Dano Wildlife is a tense, bleak family drama set in the early 1960s, kind of like Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road (2008). Both films deal with young married couples who are no longer happy and don't know why. Presumably they were sold a false bill of goods about the American Dream, particularly in postwar … Continue reading Wildlife (2018)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest working filmmakers, and many believe There Will Be Blood to be his masterpiece. I think this is an incredible movie but one which lends itself to the 'masterpiece' category. It's an ambitious story about one man, told over the course of about thirty … Continue reading There Will Be Blood (2007)