Additional Posts From This Author
Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers is a film that’s nearly impossible to fully explain and just as impossible to stop thinking about. At the end of a recent screening, a friend turned to me and said, “The trailer didn’t really prepare me for this!”. I laughed, imagining Haigh and the editor trying to make...
Ponyboi shines as an unconventional fairytale that exists with a fair commonality. Casual onlookers might have a hard time fathoming this, but the story of a young intersex prostitute is so beautifully unique and yet intimately relatable. Thirty minutes in it does become an unhinged yet enjoyable crime caper, but the underlying themes of unknown...
Writer/director Theda Hammel’s newest Sundance feature, Stress Positions is a sharp and layered satire about love in the time of the pandemic. The film stars John Early as Terry, a recent mid-divorcee who essentially squats quarantines in his soon-to-be ex-husband’s Brooklyn brownstone dubbed “The Party House” for reasons Terry would like to forget. He also...
I ain't ‘fraid of no ghosts, but ice spears falling from the sky? That's a different story entirely! The Ghostbusters gang (carried over from the popular adaptation, Ghostbusters: Afterlife) are at it again, this time deserting the hot and dusty dunes of Oklahoma for the wild and frozen tundras of… New York City? That’s right,...
In January 2020, NBC’s The Good Place came to an end. It was a bittersweet comedy about life after death and finding yourself in the “good place”, i.e. Heaven; or the “bad place”, i.e. well, down there. Mike Schur’s series not only talked about death, but battled morality, ethics, and the idea that people can...
The Sundance Film Festival has a worldwide reputation for premiering some of the most evocative and conversation-starting films of our times. Both US and International films receive a main stage to showcase their passion in hopes of distribution. Originally the festival’s goal endeavored to showcase American-made films and make the case for filmmaking in Utah....
When is the right time to talk about race? Not just about racism, but what the term even means. How did it begin and how can it be ended? These are just a few questions tacked by Ava DuVernay’s Origin. Starring Anjanue Ellis as Isabel Wilkerson, the real-life journalist and cultural anthropologist, the film delves...
Alice Walker’s The Color Purple has enthralled audiences since its release in 1982. The novel led to Walker receiving the 1983 Pulitzer Prize – a first for any African American woman – and has spawned two films and a Broadway musical. This winter, The Color Purple will bring the soaring Broadway musical to the silver...
In Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is tired. He’s a writer of dense books, intelligent and full of meaning and metaphor, but they don't fly off the shelf. His intrepid publisher, Arthur (John Ortiz) compares his book to a very expensive bottle of Johnny Walker Red: expensive, so fewer people imbibe,...
For decades, children around the world have loved Willy Wonka. And it makes perfect sense; who wouldn’t want to worship someone who peddles exclusively in making candy? Whether played by the wiseacre, but warm Gene Wilder, or the strange, emo, and slick Johnny Depp, movies have always portrayed Wonka as a hero with a heart,...
This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The gateway to great art lies in caring for the artist. By the middle of Leave the World Behind’s hefty two hours and 18 minutes, I noticed a crick in my neck. Never had I watched a movie where I shook my head and said, “White...
In a world of schedules, restrictions, and order, adding a little organized chaos to the mix can cleanse the palate. Reading relaxes the scholastic part of the mind while allowing the creative side to flourish. Kids born in the ‘80s or ‘90s (or nostalgia-obsessed Gen Z or Gen Alphas) will know a series of books...
The Holdovers tells the story of faculty, staff and students held over the winter break at a New England boarding school. If there’s one thing that an audience can count on Alexander Payne for, it’s adding small-town charm to Hollywood-style antics. Payne’s films present as hamlet-chic, where towns like Omaha, NE get a panache that’s...
“Take me out to the ball game!” Just imagine the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, and the cheers as the home team covers the bases! Kids watch in awe as the scoreboard lights up, indicating another win for the hometown heroes. Baseball remains America’s favorite pastime, and what better way to...
Paul Matthews (Nicolas Cage) has a pretty great, if not uneventful life, but he yearns for more. His wants aren’t completely out of bounds. He wants recognition, respect and the adoration of his family, it’s not unreasonable to think about. The problem isn’t Paul’s wishes, but instead the ways he goes about fulfilling them. Kristoffer...
This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. The gateway to great art lies in caring for the artist. A delicious sort of contradiction in Saltburn sets the tone for the entire film. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, “Saltburn” refers to the palatial estate inhabited by Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), Farleigh (Archie Madekwe),...
It’s easy to question the legitimacy of Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things in the first few minutes. Is it the story of a mad disfigured scientist holding a young woman hostage under the guise of science and fatherhood? Is it designed simply to shock the audience with ribaud behavior in an amalgam of harlequin, steampunk, and...
