Locating Realism in The Revenant
The Revenant is a powerful statement on cinematic realism affected but not marred by its real toil. It’s old cinema made epic again.
M.C. Myers
Interstellar: Feeling Machine
Interstellar’s brilliant technical filmmaking hinges on a story thwarted by melodrama. Its head is full of ideas, but its heart is empty.
Let Me In: Warm Leftovers
Let Me In is an arousing remake that makes a cautionary tale more streamlined, romantic, and cathartic, three things it probably never intended to be.
Exorcist II: The Heretic – Horror as Anti-Horror
Despite its meandering awkwardness, one of the most hated horror films of all time features a compelling creative vision and the visuals of an epic.
Why Army of the Dead Should Not Be the Oscars Fan Favorite
Army of the Dead’s ruthless devotion to plagiarization is its most passionate aspect. Less effort was never spent on a film so casually praised.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022): Glossy Legacy
The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film is exactly what you would expect from rebooting this dirty series into the glossed-up legacy sequel model.
The Batman: V for Vengeance
Admirably grounded and well-cast, The Batman tries its best to add relevance to a cluttered canon amid broken thriller mechanics and aloof dialogue.
Zodiac: Memories of Murmur
The 15th anniversary of Zodiac is the perfect occasion to revisit David Fincher’s best film and see how the thriller epic holds up in 2022.
Batman: Unfinished Business
Batman reflects the charm and the cost of a script that was not properly finished. But its lead and its meticulous visual design still enchant.
Batman Returns: Action Fairytale
Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is a dark Christmas fable, an action fairytale. It’s the whole experience of reading comics in one painful, beautiful mythology.
The Legend of Zelda and the Fantasy Feeling: Do Video Games Have to Be Art?
On its anniversary, The Legend of Zelda is a still-brilliant piece of fantasy fiction and a discussion piece for the question of video games as art.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) – Schlock and Awe
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake is far more willing to recreate its original than to understand it. The result is vile. And not in a good way.
Jurassic World Dominion Trailer: How Jurassic Park Evolved Into This
Jurassic World Dominion is supposed to be the climax of decades of franchise build-up. Here are my thoughts on the trailer and how this series got here.
Zack Snyder vs Superman: Why Intent Became Conflict in Man of Steel
A response to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel as well as to the debates about it, including both its problematic execution and its honest desire for greatness.
The Santa Clause 2: Carefree Christmas
The Santa Clause 2 has Tim Allen’s standup and farting reindeer, but it feels like Christmas. Let me explain why I keep watching it.
Saint Maud: Timid Prophet
Saint Maud is a confident debut from a promising filmmaker, but its self-imposed genre tropes become limitations that hold it back from greatness.
The Batman – Trailer Reaction
Another trailer for The Batman encouraged me to write down my thoughts, both my anticipation and misgivings, about Matt Reeves’ latest take on the Dark Knight.
The White Reindeer: A Myth of Innocence
The White Reindeer is equal parts history, horror, and fairytale – a myth of innocence, in a landscape of snow and terror.
Meet Me in St. Louis: The Us That Time Forgot
Meet Me in St. Louis is hope and happiness in movie form, using sorrow and shadows and more joy than usually fits in ten movies. It is Christmas, to me.
White Christmas: A Beautiful Bottom Line
White Christmas never fails to put me in the Christmas spirit, with a bit of finagling. It wears the season (and its production woes) on its satin sleeve.
First Man: Cultural Breakthrough
With First Man, Damien Chazelle takes us to space and still thinks the most important things are the ones we left behind. The best film of 2018.
Brooklyn: Cautious Fairytale
Brooklyn is a well-meaning new version of the kind of movie we used to make much more easily. It’s not masterful, but at least it’s respectable.
Vertigo: Decoding Hitchcock’s Desires
Vertigo is as much about its director’s view of sex as a masterclass thriller. It decodes not only Master Hitchcock but an entire cinematic point-of-view.
Superman: Mythic Origins
Superman creates a well-meaning mythology that predicts the most profitable film genre. Its many imitations are only partial, however. The original still soars.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Force Illusion
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is as sloppy for its artists as embarrassing for its fans. It is brand mismanagement in visual form.
Enemy: The Right Wrong Man
An analysis of Villeneuve’s dreamy thriller, Hitchcock accelerated to spiritual attack speed. Arachnophobes beware.
Ad Astra: Space Melodrama
Ad Astra attempts to be a space opera and family melodrama. Failing both makes even its best intentions seem misplaced from other films.
Midsommar: The Director’s Cut – Empowerment Horror
Ari Aster’s Midsommar shows the dark side of empowerment, which is its main success. That so many consider it a self-help film is its main curiosity.
Popeye: Robert Altman – De-Animator
Robert Altman’s adaptation of Popeye feels more like a redaction. His serious silly world is more interesting as a failure than enjoyable as a living cartoon.
1917: Tech Epic
1917 is a capable demonstration of technology matched to an overreaching story. Exactly what meets the eye.