Black Sheep (Perkins, 2018) I could definitely feel the Moonlight influences in this short documentary about a black boy’s desperate drive to survive after moving to a racist neighbourhood in Essex. The direct address to the camera, […]
The 2019 Oscar-Nominated Shorts: Animated (Various, 2017-2018)
Animal Behaviour (Snowden & Fine, 2018) This starts off cute enough, as much as the pairing of disorders with animals is painfully on-the-nose. The leech has separation anxiety! The praying mantis is bad at relationships! […]
Of Fathers and Sons (Derki, 2017)
Kudos to the Academy’s documentary branch for plucking this lesser-known choice out of its shortlist and giving it a top five berth over something more mainstream like Won’t You Be My Neighbor? I’m sure it pissed off […]
Mirai (Mamoru, 2018)
This is quite the shocking development for me, since I truly thought Mirai was going to be my deserving underdog for the Oscar this year. It’s hard not to root for Japanese anime whenever it’s nominated. It’s […]
RBG (West & Cohen, 2018)
I shall play the role of sober judge while writing this review, because Ruth Bader Ginsburg would want me to do nothing less. And so, while I admit RBG is highly entertaining and teeming with warmth for […]
High Flying Bird (Soderbergh, 2019)
Steven Soderbergh’s iPhone rush is not over. With Unsane, he made it possible to make an effective thriller with minimal fuss, and now with High Flying Bird, he’s clamped down on his values and refuses to budge […]
Velvet Buzzsaw (Gilroy, 2019)
If Velvet Buzzsaw was going for incisive critique of the art world’s myriad frivolities, it doesn’t work well. The best it can do is to emulate the kind of dead air that’s generated by those who equate […]
At Eternity’s Gate (Schnabel, 2018)
Another year, another Vincent van Gogh film. Hot on the heels of last year’s Loving Vincent (a film animated in the style of van Gogh’s paintings), At Eternity’s Gate looks at the final years of the artist’s short life, […]
Predicting the 91st Academy Awards: The Nominations
Best Picture Gwilym Lee & Rami Malek in BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY — courtesy of 20th Century Fox LOCKS: BlacKkKlansman; The Favourite; Green Book; Roma; A Star is Born. LIKELY: Black Panther; Bohemian Rhapsody; Vice. COIN-TOSS: Cold War; First Man; […]
The Wild Boys (Mandico, 2017)
What if Guy Maddin remade The Island of Dr. Moreau and it made it super gay? It’d probably be something like Bertrand Mandico’s The Wild Boys, which is an all-out unusual experience. Part coming-of-age narrative, part gay fantasia, […]
Incredibles 2 (Bird, 2018)
I’m very fond of the first Incredibles film, and by and large, its sequel is a welcome return. The characters are much the same as we’ve left them, as are their voice actors. Their personalities continue to […]
A Simple Favor (Feig, 2018)
I’ve been sitting on this film for almost a day now, trying to figure out what to write about it. My mental list just has the words KENDRICK, LIVELY, COSTUMES and DIABOLIQUE scribbled in earnest, […]
Beautiful Boy (van Groeningen, 2018)
I respect the issues Beautiful Boy tackles. Drug addiction is a serious epidemic that everyone should inform themselves about. Every individual struggle matters. Lives are at stake, and they can be saved with the understanding of a […]
Mary Poppins Returns (Marshall, 2018)
Mary Poppins Returns begins with a very traditional opening number, before revealing very traditional opening credits with an overture in the vein of the original. It is a clear jump into the past, and an age […]
Skate Kitchen (Moselle, 2018)
I felt some kinship with the lead character of Skate Kitchen. For a while, anyway. Making her introverted and socially awkward was a good decision on the creative team’s part, because it colors the story differently. […]
The Lonely Film Critic 