Category: Reviews

I could write a lot about my mother. How she drives me up a wall. How she is maybe my biggest fan, or maybe totally withholding. I could talk about what a crazy person she is, or how adventurous she is. In any discussion, I’d be remiss not to mention how much I admire her … Continue reading Better Off Dead… (1985) – dir. Savage Steve Holland →

One of the more common fantasies I like to entertain is the idea of going back and time as I currently think and understand the world, complete with the memories and understanding of my life I've lived up to whatever point the hypothetical arises. This is a short-sighted desire with a slew of problems that … Continue reading Boyhood (2014) – dir. Richard Linklater →

What is the worth of a life? This is something art and stories question all of the time, and invariably something any person wonders about themselves. One assumes, with time and space being as vast as they are, that they are not very significant in the grand scheme of things. Maybe we sometimes fool ourselves … Continue reading It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – dir. Frank Capra →

One of the joys and minor frustrations of dissecting a film is why a film works at all. As a personal rule, I do my best not to criticize films based on how well they accomplish something next to another film. For example, I might believe that Star Wars has more to say about rising to the … Continue reading Clue (1985) – dir. Jonathan Lynn →

There's a lyric that I quite love from The National's "Walk It Back," where Matt Berninger sings in a particularly dejected croon, "Nothing that changes changes anything." Berninger's line is a sour reinterpretation of "the more things change, the more things stay the same." We like to think we're evolved. We like to think we … Continue reading The Favourite (2018) – dir. Yorgos Lanthimos →

There's a line I really like from Kelly Fremon Craig's The Edge of Seventeen. As Hailee Steinfeld's Nadine kneels over a toilet bowl, throwing up all of the liquor she has consumed as Haley Lu Richardson's Krista consoles her and holds her hair, Nadine, in tears, drunkenly inquires, "Why do you like me? I don't even like … Continue reading Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) – dir. Marielle Heller →

Taiwanese master Edward Yang always takes time with his films, which, in turn, take their time with viewers. They're not enlivened by deceptively ballet-like set pieces, or thrilling explorations of the world, nor are they vast mysteries with one great turn after another. That isn't to say Yang's films aren't thrilling, or ambitious, or captivating. … Continue reading Taipei Story (1985) – dir. Edward Yang →

In late 2015, my maternal grandfather died very suddenly, following a vicious battle with pancreatic cancer. I think all of us had taken for granted the notion the he would be around for several years longer. My grandpa was only 61. He had spent the last several years taking good care of himself--he loved to … Continue reading Manchester by the Sea (2016) – dir. Kenneth Lonergan →

Science has always been my weakest subject, but I've always been somewhat attached to the idea of a physical change versus a chemical change. For anyone who hasn't had a middle school chemistry lesson in a while--a physical change is when an adjustment is made to a substance that does not necessarily change the atomic … Continue reading Burning (2018) – dir. Lee Chang-dong →

Parenthood is so daunting to me. At some point, yeah, I’d like to have kids of my own. The trouble is, I know I’m going to make a million mistakes, and no amount of “Dear Theodosia”-inspired love will ever quell that anxiety. I can only give my progeny what I, with my limited life experience, … Continue reading Dogtooth (2009) – dir. Yorgos Lanthimos →