There are two potential documentaries here kicking one another like fraternal twins in a womb, each hoping to emerge first. One is a rather easy to follow allegation of gender… Continue reading "Beyond the Visible — Hilma af Klint (Dyrschka, 2019)"
I will put my disclosures up front rather than as postscripts. My father was one of 52 American hostages in Tehran from 1979-81. He taught me to respect the military… Continue reading "Desert One (Kopple, 2019)"
There are things that you know — in your head, intellectually — that still hit you hard when you are confronted with them in reality rather than merely as abstractions.… Continue reading "Streetlight Harmonies (Wilson, 2020)"
I watched Hooking Up what seems like a lifetime ago, but my e-mail tells me that it was just last week. The plan was to make recommendations for the socially… Continue reading "Hooking Up (Raineau, 2020)"
This review contains plot spoilers. I have taught Emma at the university several times, contributed to a symposium block of papers in JASNA’s Persuasions, and published two academic books filled… Continue reading "Emma. (de Wilde, 2020)"
So it falls to me to be that guy. The woke critic who points out that the film sadistically brutalizes women for 120 minutes of entertainment in order, ostensibly, to… Continue reading "The Invisible Man (Whannell, 2020)"
A not so funny thing happened on the way to and through Oscar So White. Actually, it happened before then. It’s been going on for as long as I’ve been… Continue reading "Burden (Heckler, 2019)"
My fear going into Top End Wedding was that it would be My Big Fat Greek Aboriginal Wedding or Crazy Non-Rich Non Asians. What I got was a pleasant surprise.… Continue reading "Top End Wedding (Blair, 2019)"
My problem going into Birds of Prey was one the film was perhaps aware of but still never solved: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is a mess of contradictions. She is… Continue reading "Birds of Prey (Yan, 2020)"
I happened to screen Dolittle on the same morning I got a newsletter update from a non-profit about the Australian wildfires. I am told that over one billion animals have… Continue reading "Dolittle (Gaghan, 2020)"
