Nathan-ism (Golod, 2023)
Nathan-ism is a near-miss of a documentary that has a promising subject and appears to stumble across an important and unexpected angle, but it is ultimately unable to put the… Continue reading "Nathan-ism (Golod, 2023)"
Nathan-ism is a near-miss of a documentary that has a promising subject and appears to stumble across an important and unexpected angle, but it is ultimately unable to put the… Continue reading "Nathan-ism (Golod, 2023)"
Freedom’s Path is a relentlessly, oppressively well-intentioned movie that struggles mightily to live up to the importance of its subject matter. William (Gerran Howell) is a Union deserter. Kitch (RJ… Continue reading "Freedom’s Path (Smith, 2023)"
The complaint that a film has no likable characters or no one that the viewer can relate to is one of those critical tropes that is irritating when someone else… Continue reading "Madeleine Collins (Barraud, 2021)"
There is no dearth of cultural narratives about the stultifying effects of being trapped in a small town. From Winesburg, Ohio to Footloose to Friday Night Lights, our culture is… Continue reading "A Song for Imogene (Arlee, 2023)"
I recommend Prisoner’s Daughter and rated it “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. That doesn’t have to be the lede of every review, but I start with it for three reasons. First,… Continue reading "Prisoner’s Daughter (Hardwicke, 2022)"
I have identified as Christian for just over forty years now, though I have never embraced any of the cultural, theological, or denominational labels that have commonly modified that category… Continue reading "The Starling Girl (Parmet, 2023)"
The Problem of the Hero is one of those smartly written, deeply engrossing films that mostly consists of two characters debating important ideas. The debate surrounds the theatrical adaptation of… Continue reading "The Problem of the Hero (Dozier, 2023)"
Rodeo is presented with an anthropological curiosity and an artistic attention to detail that almost get the film across the finish line. The attempts to embed the examination of gearheads… Continue reading "Rodeo (Quivoron, 2022)"
Nana Mensah’s Queen of Glory combines elements of three familiar stories: the immigrant experience, the grief experience, and the anthropological look at a religious community. Mensah plays Sarah Obeng, a… Continue reading "Queen of Glory (Mensah, 2022)"
Right about the time that AndrĂ© tells his daughter Emmanuèle (Sophie Marceau) that he wants her help terminating his post-stroke life on his own terms, the plot of Everything Went… Continue reading "Everything Went Fine (Ozon, 2021)"