At Middleton Gets Graded Pass / Fail
It’s just as you dreamed: Andy Garcia all wet and glistening.
Category Archives: Active Observation
Top Ten Evil Alien Nuns Whose Heads Explode In Philomena
With so many to choose from, how, you ask, have I narrowed it down to ten? Science!
Duck, You Sucker & After The Fox: White Guys With Accents
In which famous Italian directors make what are not at all their most famous movies. Strange ’60s shenanigans result.
Why Anchorman Merits My Contempt
I say this realizing how many times you’ve seen it, and comprehending that you’ve memorized entire scenes, and understanding that you fully intend to name your firstborn son Champ.
Haunted by The Past
Asghar Farhadi’s The Past (Le Passé) is close. It is close like the body beside you in bed. It is close like the memory of mistakes made.
Critters: It Ain’t Gremlins
First off, Critters is not to be confused with Joe Dante’s rather more famous movie, Gremlins, although both feature weird little nasty monsters who want to eat your face.
Why Don’t You Want to See Dhoom 3?
If we’re going to bend at the knee to the sovereignty of spectacle, let’s shuck the pretense of intelligence.
Cheap Thrills: One of Life’s Little Bargains
You’ll never forget them or this night. Assuming you see Cheap Thrills, which you should.
Nebulous Ruminations on Spike Jonze’s Her
In which I find myself somewhat flummoxed and curious at matters relating to this science fiction romance.
Why City Slickers 2 is the Most Honest Sequel Ever Made
During the months long build up to the release of Anchorman 2, a question has burned in parts of my brain not being bombarded with images of Ron Burgundy: Has […]
The Wolf of Wall Street: Weekend at Bernie Madoff’s
What we’re discussing here, during the Oscar crush, is the cinematic equivalent of gout.
Four Films by Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison isn’t one of those directors whose name sets off a flurry of flashbulbs. He never won an Academy Award, or played golf with Richard Nixon (I’m assuming), or […]
On The Low-Key Magnificence That Is Inside Llewyn Davis
Inside Llewyn Davis, in which Joel and Ethan Coen go dark and plotless for their look at a struggling New York folk singer in ’61, is their best movie since Barton Fink.
In Which I Watch My First Bresson Film, A Man Escaped
Heathen that I am, I’d never seen any of Robert Bresson’s movies until, oh, just now, or thereabouts, when I watched A Man Escaped, his fourth feature, from ‘56. Bresson […]