Category: Reviews

Growing up, I seldom felt like as though I was  the one choosing my friends. We just fell in with each other, ate lunch with each other, and I never really said no. Sometimes we bonded over a song, or a movie, or just tolerating each other. And even though I still love many of … Continue reading Shoplifters (2018) – dir. Horikazu Kore-eda →

[originally published in early 2018] We want to believe we’re special. This a broad statement, one that could imply many things. In one way or another, though, we all want to excel in ways those around us can’t or won’t. We want to be better known, or smarter, or more talented. We try so hard … Continue reading Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – dir. Denis Villeneuve →

I don't take pleasure in contrarianism for the sake of contrarianism. To me, disliking things merely to be defiant--whether one is actively trolling, or attempting to purport some kind of superiority in taste--is a pointless, waste-of-energy exercise. Sometimes, I enjoy films that, say, have tepid critical reception--I maintain Only God Forgives and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey are two … Continue reading Blade Runner (1982) – dir. Ridley Scott →

Every other Sunday, I have dinner with my family. Specifically, my mom's mom, my uncle, my aunts, and my five-year-old cousin. After my grandpa died a couple years ago, so many things changed, but that fortnightly dinner has survived. Part of that tradition is the mediocre television my grandpa used to make us watch--he simply … Continue reading American Honey (2016) – dir. Andrea Arnold →

I wish I could say, even retrospectively, that I learned anything from my middle school years. This was a time I developed a lot of taste I still maintain today, when I started getting into movies--by 13, I had memorized every film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, which I have somehow still … Continue reading Eighth Grade (2018) – dir. Bo Burnham →

I think most folks like to believe that elected politicians are holed in Washington D.C., trading barbs and spirited debate on policy and democracy. Like a really boring sports match, or a round of debate. But to hear actual congresspeople tell the tale, they're less of rivals and more like co-workers who are all very … Continue reading Vice (2018) dir. Adam McKay →

Though I haven't listened to The Mountain Goats' The Sunset Tree in a few years, John Darnielle's autobiographical accounts of his tumultuous relationship with his abusive stepfather remains a personal favorite, as well as one of the most startling and raw listening experiences ever recorded--matched only, in recent years, by records like Sun Kil Moon's Benji and Mount Eerie's … Continue reading Minding the Gap (2018) – dir. Bing Liu →

Scary movies are a unique, often visceral way for people to confront primal worries or insecurities. And while any film, even the bad ones, have some understanding of storytelling as a way of reflecting the human experience, no genre is better equipped to get under one's skin and feel out a reaction quite like a … Continue reading Bird Box (2018) – dir. Susanne Bier →

Most of the time, reviewing is easy. Most of the time, how well a film works, what is being said, and how the execution unfolds is quite clear. This doesn’t mean most movies can’t keep presenting new meaning or ideas, even once one’s thoughts are crystallized, but few films have much to say or reveal … Continue reading A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) – dir. Steven Spielberg →

Good war stories are complicated, because war is often complicated. History often bears out winners and losers, the latter group is not only defined by their technical loss, but by their moral shortcomings. Every enemy is morally bankrupt, willing to fight any fight for victory. So, we're supposed to show up in even greater force, … Continue reading Grand Illusion (1937) – dir. Jean Renoir →