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.
Mind Control Double Feature #75: In Which Jack Nicholson Tries To Lose Himself
Who would you be if you could be someone else?
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.
Mind Control Double Feature #74: Elvis is Everywhere
In this, the last week before the son of the wrathful sky god blesses the desert tribes with slightly more UV and a cubic yard of now-useless wrapping paper, we rightfully turn our adulating gaze upon his, the holiest of forms. We bow our heads and briefly stop buying things to praise Elvis.
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 […]
The Top 10 Most Fascinating Films of 2013
What were the 10 best films of 2013? Which 10 films were the worst? The loudest? The densest? The most likely to impregnate you with a litter of gerbils? These […]
American Hustle vs. American Gangster
Eat the damn thing, kid. It’s a good movie. Tastes like Serpico.
American Hustle: This Year’s Argo?
And I mean that in the worst way possible.
Mind Control Double Feature #73: There’s No Escaping The Past
“What’s past is prologue,” wrote that clever chap Shakespeare. “Study the past, if you would divine the future,” wrote that thoughtful fellow Confucius.
Indie Round-Up: Computer Chess, Crystal Fairy, Frances Ha
Wherein various items arise for discussion, not least of which are the three indie movies named above.
The Same Old Story: The Wolverine and Nebraska
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Or these two.
Mind Control Double Feature #72: Bechdel Test-iness
Women, right? Can’t live with ’em—so they say—unless you’re lucky, or you are one, or you live with, I dunno, a mother who loves you or something. You do have […]
On Nebraska, Only God Forgives, And Catching Fire: Movies As Empty Types
Three movies full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.