There is a lot one can say about Madeline’s Madeline, and I feel like one’s interpretation of its contents will shift and evolve with time. It is such an immediate sensory experience that you aren’t really able to […]
Thunder Road (Cummings, 2018)
Jim Cummings is a star. Writing, directing, and starring in what can only be called cringe porn at its finest, Cummings gives us one of the year’s best independent achievements in Thunder Road, a full-length expansion […]
The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Akhavan, 2018)
Having already seen Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased, I’m relieved to say that Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post fares a lot better when it comes to depicting the abuses of gay conversion therapy. Fictional though it may […]
BlacKkKlansman (Lee, 2018)
Spike Lee’s passion is unmistakable. He knows just how to get at the heart of the issues and blaze them to the masses with ferocity, his films acting as missals for his faithful to fight […]
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (Neville, 2018)
I watched this before the 38-minute featurette A Final Cut for Orson, which is where all the details about The Other Side of the Wind’s restoration work are included. I wouldn’t have minded one long and comprehensive […]
The Other Side of the Wind (Welles, 2018)
The myth of The Other Side of the Wind has outgrown the film itself, to the point where you have to keep reminding yourself that it now exists for our consumption. Welles scholars have pored over this […]
The Old Man & the Gun (Lowery, 2018)
By now, I think we can say David Lowery’s ideal vision of cinema is one that takes its time to form in the viewer’s imagination. With a little patience, and with a little luck, people […]
November (Sarnet, 2017)
Lithuanian though I am, Estonian folklore is still quite a ways away from what I used to hear as a child. For instance, the concept of a kratt—a sentient creature made from household implements and […]
Rat Film (Anthony, 2016)
Anyone who goes into this thinking they’re going to learn about the physiology of rats and their historical notoriety as carriers of infection will be disappointed. This isn’t your standard nature documentary. It’s actually an […]
Wonderstruck (Haynes, 2017)
Yes, this is minor Haynes, and no, this is not his first “bad” film. Todd Haynes couldn’t direct a bad film if he tried. He’s much too poetic and graceful. The reason Wonderstruck isn’t as good as […]
Super Dark Times (Phillips, 2017)
The opening of Super Dark Times is so rich in promise, with a bizarre setup that could either be literal or symbolic in nature. It’s never mentioned again, and it could very well be because it happens […]
The Post (Spielberg, 2017)
Aware that The Post had not been faring so well this award season, my expectations were not very high. Nor did the opening prologue, showcasing a snippet of the Vietnam War, help assuage my fears that this […]
Atomic Blonde (Leitch, 2017)
Um, so, I’m going to be one of the few people to admit that I enjoyed Atomic Blonde more than John Wick: Chapter 2… even though I’ll concede that the latter had a better plot (or, at the […]
Casting JonBenet (Green, 2017)
Kudos to Kitty Green for keeping this immensely gossipy doc tethered to a concept she could pull off. I was weary at first, because the actors in this run through almost every sordid speculation about […]
All the Money in the World (Scott, 2017)
This is as competent as you’d want from a Ridley Scott picture. A very slick procedural and real-life thriller (with some fictionalized elements) that boasts a game ensemble and a compelling examination of capitalism’s dehumanizing […]
The Lonely Film Critic 