Category Archives: Film

22
Apr

20 After 20: 2004

20. The Terminal (dir. Steven Spielberg)Maybe it’s a little naïve. Maybe it’s a little (Capra) corny. But in an era where immigrants of all backgrounds and statuses are demonized, this is a pleasantly compassionate dramedy about people just trying to … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film, Reviews | Comments Off

8
Mar

Oscar Re-Do 2014

BEST PICTURE American Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash Should have won: Selma Not even nominated: Interstellar Whether it was a bad campaign, a late release, or simply willful ignorance, Selma … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Film, Oscars, Reviews | Tagged big hero 6, birdman, boyhood, gone girl, grand budapest hotel, inherent vice, selma, whiplash | Comments Off

2
Mar

My Dream Oscar Ballot 2025

BEST PICTURE Anora The Brutalist Conclave A Different Man Dune: Part Two Evil Does Not Exist Hit Man I Saw the TV Glow The People’s Joker Sing Sing BEST DIRECTING Sean Baker, Anora Brady Corbet, The Brutalist Radu Jude, Do … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Film, Oscars | Tagged alien, anora, beetlejuice, between the temples, brutalist, challengers, civil war, complete unknown, conclave, deadpool, different man, do not expect too much from the end of the world, dune, Emilia Perez, evil does not exist, gladiator, hit man, hundreds of beavers, I saw the tv glow, kneecap, late night with the devil, love lies bleeding, netflix, no other land, nosferatu, people's joker, planet of the apes, real pain, red rooms, sing sing, substance, twilight of the warriors, twisters, wolverine | Comments Off

2
Mar

Oscar Guide 2025

BEST PICTURE Anora The Brutalist A Complete Unknown Conclave Dune: Part Two Emilia Pérez I’m Still Here Nickel Boys The Substance Wicked Will win: Anora Could win: Conclave Should win: The Brutalist Should have been nominated: Sing Sing BEST DIRECTING … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Film, Oscars, Previews | Tagged anora, brutalist, complete unknown, conclave, dune, Emilia Perez, netflix, porcelain war, real pain, wicked, wild robot | Comments Off

1
Mar

The Best Film Performances of 2024

Ensemble in a DramaSing SingWhile Colman Domingo and Clarence Macklin have rightly gotten the praise for standing out in this ensemble, the whole cast – most of whom are formerly incarcerated amateurs – are astonishing and authentic. If it weren’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged anora, between the temples, brutalist, different man, hundreds of beavers, late night with the devil, love lies bleeding, red rooms, saturday night, sing sing | Comments Off

28
Feb

The Best and Worst Movies of 2024

Let’s start with the most obvious thing about this list: Only one is from a traditional Hollywood studio. That’s how bad the product got in 2024, with most big-name directors’ projects punted to 2025 or later. The best films once … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Film | Tagged anora, brutalist, do not expect too much from the end of the world, dune, evil does not exist, flow, I saw the tv glow, no other land, people's joker, print it black, sing sing | Comments Off

20
Jan

Final Oscar Picks 2025

BEST PICTUREAnoraThe BrutalistA Complete Unknown Conclave A Different Man Dune: Part TwoEmilia Pérez Nickel BoysSing SingWicked Dark Horse: A Real Pain Long Shot: The Substance Total Shock: Juror #2 The skinny: I know eight of these are correct, but two … Continue reading →

Posted in Awards, Film, Oscars, Previews | Tagged alien, amazon, anora, armand, beetlejuice, better man, brutalist, challengers, complete unknown, conclave, daughters, different man, dune, Emilia Perez, flow, gladiator, hard truths, I'm still here, inside out, kneecap, last showgirl, lion king, memoir of a snail, netflix, nickel boys, no other land, nosferatu, planet of the apes, real pain, seed of the sacred fig, sing sing, six triple eight, soundtrack to a coup, substance, twisters, union, wallace and gromit, wicked, wild robot, will and harper | Comments Off

1
Jun

Streaming Picks: June 2024

Programming Note: This will likely be the last of these columns I’ll write for the year. My attempts at curation have failed to wrangle the massive behemoth of streaming into something manageable. I think there’s still a place for it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Previews, Television | Tagged amazon, amc, apple, criterion, disney, hulu, max, netflix, paramount, peacock, prime, showtime, starz | Comments Off

1
May

Streaming Picks: May 2024

FILMTop PicksStop Making Sense – Max 5/3Let It Be – Disney+ 5/8The former remains the gold standard for concert docs, and the 4K restoration done by A24 finally makes its streaming debut. But the latter is pretty much the holy … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Previews, Television | Tagged amazon, amc, criterion, disney, hulu, max, netflix, paramount, peacock, prime, showtime, starz | Comments Off

22
Apr

20 After 20: 2003

20. Whale Rider (dir. Niki Caro)A movie for families that’s not for little kids. This used to be a regular occurrence, but good luck finding one these days. A beautiful celebration of Maori culture – and a sharp critique of … Continue reading →