93
"Can you find the wolves in this picture?"
Martin Scorsese's latest (and frankly, the last few pictures in the previous decade) proves he's one of the best to do it. Handling a criminally overlooked historical period, Scorsese tackles the Osage murders from the 1910s to 1930s in Osage County, Oklahoma; Scorsese takes the straightforward route when adapting David Grann's book, with some of his personal touches. But Scorsese is no longer young nor naive. As he approaches his 81st…
100
In IMAX
Somehow, even more overwhelming this time around. But hardly surprising, isn't it? Given the fact Nolan has practically perfected the IMAX format all these years, but to think he'd do it in a three-hour biopic with people talking in rooms. Beyond that, Nolan clamps down on American exceptionalism, as Oppenheimer, as well as America, reckoned with its cardinal sin, having gained the power to destroy the planet with a bomb, a force that's only increased in the…
On October 17, 1961, approximately 30,000 Algerians peacefully took to the streets of Paris to protest a government-imposed curfew. What followed became one of the darkest chapters in French colonial history, as police met the demonstrators with brutal violence, killing scores of Algerians who were simply demanding recognition and independence. The event left an indelible mark on both French and Algerian memory.
Michael Haneke’s Caché opens with a static shot of the home of Georges and Anne Laurent, a wealthy…
66
"Never set foot on the wrong side of history."
Teaching full-time is going to take your time away from this wonderful website, but I'll always be around going forward. At least I get summers off!
Anyway, often divisive filmmaker Zack Snyder swings for the moons and beyond, this time with Netflix, starring Sofia Boutella as the lead. I've always respected his vision, warts and all but this one felt too derivative, obviously pitched as some continuation of Star Wars…
47
"Go."
As a deaf person, it's been nice to see an explosion of our presence throughout various media, whether it be articles or television, but sometimes it does come at a price. While I really enjoyed the deaf talent here as they are Marlee Matlin, Daniel Durant and Troy Kotsur, I found their framing to be frequently eye-rolling, manipulative and it's all the more obvious that some of the drama was created to heighten tension or to gain sympathy.…
93
"Rick fucking Dalton."
Well, this is it. If Quentin Tarantino wanted to ride out into the sunset, he could do it now. Simultaneously going back to what catapulted him into fame with Pulp Fiction all the while this film is a throwback to classic Hollywood just as the Golden Era ended, it's both a love letter and a lamentation. Tarantino might as well have been building his entire career towards this, as he gets to delve deeply into what…
