2021 Top 10
The theatrical movie experience painfully went away in 2020, and it painfully returned in 2021. Part of what made it so was the realization that I did not miss it… Continue reading "2021 Top 10"
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Poetry in America, Season 3
I tell my students that I am a prose guy, not a poetry guy. So the fact that I enjoy PBS’s weekly lessons about famous American poems should reassure anyone… Continue reading "Poetry in America, Season 3"
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Dune (Villeneuve, 2021)
You may think you’re cool, but you’ll never be “Timothée Chalamet walking in slow motion along a rocky coast under floating spaceships to a Hans Zimmer score” cool. Dune: Part… Continue reading "Dune (Villeneuve, 2021)"
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American Underdog (Erwin and Erwin, 2021)
I have been writing the same review of Erwin films for nearly a decade, so here it is: better than it has to be but not as good as it… Continue reading "American Underdog (Erwin and Erwin, 2021)"
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The Jesus Music (Erwin and Erwin, 2021)
Both Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith are listed as Executive Producers of The Jesus Music. While not disqualifying, this fact may go a way to explaining why the film… Continue reading "The Jesus Music (Erwin and Erwin, 2021)"
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West Side Story (Spielberg, 2021)
For twenty to thirty minutes, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story glides along on the strength of choreography and snappy (no pun intended) visual storytelling. Almost, I was convinced. But dissatisfaction… Continue reading "West Side Story (Spielberg, 2021)"
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Paper & Glue (JR, 2021)
Paper & Glue is an immensely hopeful film, arriving at a time when I have been feeling particularly hopeless about the state of the world we live in. Political problems,… Continue reading "Paper & Glue (JR, 2021)"
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Eternals (Zhao, 2021)
About the time my region went to sheltering in place to flatten the 2020 Covid-19 curve, I decided to try to revisit as many MCU films as I could in… Continue reading "Eternals (Zhao, 2021)"
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Huda’s Salon (Abu-Assad, 2021)
My earliest encounter with political science was an elementary school riddle that asked, “What is the difference between a revolutionary war and a civil war?” The answer — “who wins”… Continue reading "Huda’s Salon (Abu-Assad, 2021)"
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King Richard (Green, 2021)
Normally when my critical opinion is an outlier, it is the case that I am defending or esteeming some more widely panned film, so I was surprised when I saw… Continue reading "King Richard (Green, 2021)"