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The Substance 2024
The guiding principle of "The Substance" seems to be "more." More and more and more and more (and Demi Moore.) Take "The Picture of Dorian Gray," extend its endpoint to "Evil Dead,” “Carrie,” or “The Thing,” and add a heavy-handed helping of Kubrick, Cronenberg, and Lynch for good measure. The theme is spelled out in big bold letters. The object of envy hovers over every scene via a gigantic billboard with a Mona Lisa stare. The score is pulsating, bodies…
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I Saw the TV Glow 2024
Shuffling out of the theater after my showing of "I Saw the TV Glow," I was confronted with a question similar to what Maddy and Owen experience in the film:
"What do I do with what I just watched?"
With age and experience, it becomes easier to describe the thoughts and feelings that art evokes. But then, a film like "I Saw the TV Glow" comes along and upends everything, sending you back into that uncertain mindset where meaning and…
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The Novelist's Film 2022
Oh, how I loved this humble film about the restless pursuit to express your emotional sensitivities through written word, film, or endless rounds of drinks.
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Four Lions 2010
I suspect the universality of Four Lions might have been lost in the especially Islamophobic 2010s, but this depiction of radicalization hits very close to home in an increasingly unsettling period in United States history. The bumbling antics of the Four Lions would largely be online in the 2020s, but would nonetheless be capable of turning to radical action through a series of goading and doubling down. Behind all of the great gags and countless "bros," there's a sinking feeling of familiar dread.
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Oppenheimer 2023
If this is Nolan's best film, it's also the most revealing about his world view: a world where words, puzzles, and tortured geniuses are paramount. To that end, the film is an exceptional characterization of Oppenheimer, a man navigating the labyrinth of logic and morality in the face of (the potential for) wanton destruction. He's a figure that Nolan and his particular artistry seem squarely a simpatico with. The result of this pairing is a film that offers plenty to…
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Shiva Baby 2020
"Well thank god Sheila's coffee is always lukewarm, or you'd have third-degree burns, you know?"
Claustrophobic, anxiety-inducing, and hilarious, Shiva Baby is a masterful exercise in tone. Every suffocating scene of judgmental voices and interrogative prying is met with perfect one-liners and punchlines that offer a nice breather from the mounting tension.
It's hard to imagine someone not being sold on Rachel Sennott after watching this film.
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