Ready Player One? Thy Game Is Over
Spielberg’s adaptation of the nerd-ful novel never makes it past level one.
Category Archives: Active Observation
I Love Dogs, But I Did Not Love Isle of Dogs
A very pretty, sometimes funny, sometimes adorable, sometimes boring Wes Anderson doghouse. Dollhouse, that is. But with dogs. Lots of dogs.
Winter Kills, In Which A Forgotten Bomb Is Unearthed—And Blows Up In My Face
There is wisdom in that old adage, let sleeping bombs lie. Alas, I keep on ignoring it.
Sugar Rush Cutting, from The Confidence Man to Wormwood
Turn on your television these days and you will find a strong uniformity to the editing on many of the shows that fall into the “non-scripted” category. Explanatory voiceover drawn […]
Beyond the Black Rainbow, Way Up High, Which is What You Are if You’re Watching Beyond the Black Rainbow
A visual and audio head-trip of a movie you will either fall in love with or fall asleep to.
Phantom Thread, In Which Paul Thomas Anderson Goes Minimalist to Maximal Effect
In which I find a Paul Thomas Anderson movie I rather like.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Is A Frog Named Mongo
In which an imaginary frog is invoked to make a small amount of sense from a sadly senseless movie.
In Which Lady Bird, Wonder Woman, And The Act of Writing About Movies Is Somewhat Chaotically Jumbled Together
A brain-tired movie-muser wonders what to write. Probably something about movies?
Stop Staring into Your Square and Stare into The Square
An emoji is not an emotion, even if we’re talking about a smiling pile of poop.
Tom Waits’s Big Time Is Beautiful, And I’m Sorry You Can’t Watch It
Tom Waits made a bizarre, unique concert film people didn’t understand when it opened? And it’s actually wonderful? How very surprising.
Flying Cars, Replicants, And So On
This is a flying car that just took a high-caliber round through the engine block.
Blade Runner 2049: Something Pretty You Can Nap To
If it’s a pre-apocalyptic future wasteland you want to luxuriate in, Blade Runner 2049 is the movie for you.
People Are Dopes, And mother! Is Insane
Whatever else you might think of mother!, you have certainly never seen this movie before.
Harry Dean Stanton: The Life of A Repo Man
In which I remember Harry Dean Stanton (not that I ever forgot him).