The Rule of Jenny Pen
My whole life I've been bored. I look back and see an empty bin.
Latest
Black Bag
"When it's so easy to lie about everything, how do you tell the truth about anything?"
Warfare
How do you review a dramatic re-enactment? Accuracy isn't an option, as the story being told is based on co-director Ray Mendoza's experience as a Navy SEAL during the Iraq War. I've no reason to doubt his recollection, but I can't comment
Mickey 17
"Have a nice death! See you tomorrow!"
Eephus
"Why do they care so much? Don't they have anything better to do?" This comment from a young girl to her brother echoes throughout the film, a call for you to meditate on that very topic yourself. On the surface, we're watching a recreational
The 2025 Oscars
What an exciting year for the Academy Awards! I haven't been paying close attention to the Oscars for all that long. But the years I have featured an early consensus regarding the major awards, be it the winner or a head-to-head matchup. While that's basically true
The Monkey
"Everybody dies."
Cleaner
Cleaner feels like a relic from a bygone era. The many comparisons it's received to Die Hard are debatable, although the marketing is certainly inviting them. To be fair, their cores are the same: an action-thriller in the style of an airport novel about an unassuming person thrust
Armand
A new Renate Reinsve movie is always a reason to celebrate, especially one like this which lets her fully utilize her wonderful range.
Captain America: Brave New World
Julius Onah throws The Winter Soldier into the microwave a decade later, and expects us to applaud.
Bring Them Down
"Y'know what they say. Where there's livestock, there's dead stock."
Heart Eyes
"You can be so Clueless sometimes. It's one of the 10 Things I Hate About You, honestly. You can't let him go to his Best Friend's Wedding and hook up with a bunch of Bridesmaids and move to Notting Hill."
Pop Culture Maniacs
Love Me
The core theme of Love Me destined it to be labeled a pandemic-era movie. While Americans had already been experiencing epidemic levels of loneliness in the late 2010s, the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns highlighted what was already there while deepening that isolation. We were drowning in a preponderance
New Releases
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
"In the newly independent Congo, the role of the Congolese army will remain the same role it always played since 1886 when Leopold II created this army."
Pop Culture Maniacs
Grand Theft Hamlet
Transforming an actor's worst fear from "forgetting my lines" to "getting blown up by a stranger dressed as a cowboy stripper".
Pop Culture Maniacs
A brief announcement.
New Releases
Presence
It should surprise no one that Soderbergh's ghost story is far more concerned with its creative conceit than being scary. And that's a good thing.
New Releases
Hard Truths
"Why can’t you enjoy life?" "I don’t know!...Haunted. Haunted. It’s not fair."
New Releases
Sing Sing
"We don’t say that in here. We use 'beloved'."
New Releases
September 5
"It's not about politics, it's about emotion."
New Releases
The Last Showgirl
Gia Coppola's take on "The Wrestler"
Year End
Best Films I Watched This Year - 2024
From a wordless experimental doc to an intimately epic three hour nightmare.
Year End
2024 Wrap-Up
If you’re just interested in my top ten, you can skip my preamble and other categories by clicking here. At this time every year comes the inevitable question: was it a good one for movies? This year more than most, there are a multitude of ways to answer that
New Releases
Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
"Our emphasis is on the fact that we want our workers to respect the procedures..."