Joan of Arc is titled Jeanne in its French release, and for the first thirty seconds or so, I thought I had popped in a screener for Dumont’s 2017 (I-don’t-know-what-else-to-call-it-except-maybe-a-cult-classic)… Continue reading "Joan of Arc (Dumont, 2019)"
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist is an engaging and interesting film even if you are not a horror aficionado. I’m not a horror fan, but The Exorcist… Continue reading "Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist (Phillipe, 2019)"
In a video discussion provided to critics with the advanced screener of Hillbilly Elegy, director Ron Howard admitted to having trouble finding the through story in J. D. Vance’s popular… Continue reading "Hillbilly Elegy (Howard, 2020)"
At several moments during Regina King’s One Night in Miami, I found myself thinking the film was working better than I expected. I kept waiting for its rickety structure of… Continue reading "One Night in Miami (King, 2020)"
Although 2020 has seen a limited number of theatrical film releases, it has nevertheless provided cinephiles with many options for DVD and streaming experiences. For fans of Tom Tykwer, Kino… Continue reading "Babylon Berlin"
It is admittedly difficult these days to separate the pleasure of having any new movie to watch from the pleasures induced by a particular film. That caveat aside, I could… Continue reading "Nomadland (Zhao, 2020)"
The singular thing about Harry Chapin is not that he promoted causes in and through his musical performances but that he managed to do so in a way that endeared… Continue reading "Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something (Korn, 2020)"
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, a little girl named JonBenét Ramsey was murdered . Like so many other idle observers, I immediately assumed one or more members of… Continue reading "The State of Texas vs. Melissa"
When I first heard that Jack London’s political novel Martin Eden was being made as a film set in modern-day Naples, I wasn’t sure how well the book’s themes would… Continue reading "Martin Eden (Marcello, 2019)"
Is it possible for a film to be simultaneously mediocre (bordering on bad) and essential? Native Son has a lot of stuff wrong with it as a film. Wright was… Continue reading "Native Son (Chenal, 1951)"
