Comedy

Don’t Look Up (2021)

A hilariously satirical disaster epic that pokes fun at the media, government incompetence, and capitalist excess. Don’t Look Up is a satirical, science-fiction disaster movie where two scientists discover a comet, a “planet killer”, that will directly hit Earth and destroy all of human civilization. Their efforts to warn and save humanity are hindered by politics, […]

Don’t Look Up (2021)

Drama

Dear Jane Campion,

Benedict Cumberbatch has an excellent shot at an Oscar nomination/win. I wanted to thank you for adapting Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel and directing The Power of the Dog (2021). Your films feel like good books that beg to be analyzed. Take The Piano (1993), for instance, your signature film for the past thirty years. I […]

Dear Jane Campion,

Crime

THE UNFORGIVABLE (2021): The Things I Liked…

I’m glad that Sandra Bullock said yes to The Unforgivable, a well-executed tale of one woman’s journey to reconnect with her sister after finishing a twenty-year prison sentence. Directed by Nora Fingscheidt, what stood out immediately, in addition to the excellent performances, is how engaging the story is. I cared about Bullock’s character and couldn’t wait for […]

THE UNFORGIVABLE (2021): The Things I Liked…

Drama

Duck, You Sucker! (1971) – The False Facades of Heroism and Revolution

“When I was young I believed in three things: Marxism, the redemptive power of cinema and dynamite. Now I just believe in dynamite.” – Sergio Leone The great Italian director Sergio Leone was and remains one of the titans of international cinema. Despite such a meager output of only seven films (eight if one were […]

Duck, You Sucker! (1971) – The False Facades of Heroism and Revolution

Crime

WEST SIDE STORY

Hollywood loves a remake. Sometimes it’s a successful foreign film recast with English-speaking celebrities. Sometimes it’s a decent story that just didn’t work the first time around. Most of the time, it’s a hollow-minded cash-grab by a studio rejiggering its intellectual property. But now and then, it’s a filmmaker of regard taking a bonafide classic […]

WEST SIDE STORY

Drama

Film review: C’mon C’mon

Inspired by early interactions with his infant son, writer and director Mike Mills tells a contemplative tale with latest feature C’mon C’mon. The tender drama centres around Johnny (Joaquin Phoenix), a journalist of sorts travelling state to state conducting philosophical interviews with the youth of today about their future. When his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffman) […]

Film review: C’mon C’mon

Comedy

Don’t Look Up (2021) An even disaster comedy

Adam McKay’s new film “Don’t Look Up”, which was released on Netflix on Christmas Eve after being released at theaters early in this month, attempts to laugh about how absurd and incorrigible we can be in front of one big global disaster, but it comes to resort to a series of cheap and superficial laughs […]

Don’t Look Up (2021) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): An uneven disaster comedy

Comedy

The French Dispatch (2021)

Title – The French Dispatch (2021)  Director – Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket)  Cast – Bill Murray, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Jeffrey Wright, Timothee Chalamet, Owen Wilson  Plot – A collection of stories that form integral parts of an American newspaper set in a French city.  “All great beauties withhold their deepest secrets” Review […]

Film Review – The French Dispatch (2021)

Action

DUNE – A Cinematic and Momentous Sci-Fi Epic

Denis Villeneuve delivers with a rich, dense, and layered adaption—executed with incredible performances throughout. With mythology and world-building on par with The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, Dune is cinematic and momentous. Considered among many circles as one of the hardest stories to adapt, Frank Herbert’s science fiction epic has been attempted in the past. None, however, come […]

DUNE – A Cinematic and Momentous Sci-Fi Epic

Disney Hulu

Dopesick. A Bingeworthy Addiction

Riveting. Provocative. Addictive. Dopesick is Hulu’s newest mini-series, documenting the Opioid crisis through captivating storylines which intersect and send the audience on a brilliant and emotional journey. Based on Beth Macy’s book of the same name, Dopesick follows the Opioid crisis from a multitude of perspectives: patients, abusers, doctors, law enforcement, prosecutors, and pharmaceutical…

Dopesick. A Bingeworthy Addiction

Drama

The Dope

Still working our way through season three of Succession, which continues great. Every now and then a sense of burnout looms, what with all the characters being nasty pieces of work/shit, but then it reinvigorates itself miraculously — episode 5 was incredible. And episode 6 implies that the series could eventually get a bit serious. […]

The Dope

Drama

Holiday Classics: “Penny Serenade” (1941)

When I first became interested in classic film, I’d stalk the forums on tcm.com in an attempt to seek out movies to watch. Anytime the subject of tearjerkers came up, it seemed like the first and most discussed movie was a film that would likely have otherwise flown under my radar: the 1941 drama “Penny Serenade,” directed […]

Holiday Classics: “Penny Serenade” (1941)