Category: movies
- What Violence BegetsQueen and Slim a film by Melina Matsoukas. With Daniel Kaluuya, Jodie Turner-Smith, Bokeem Woodbine. Written by Lena Waithe ***** This is a stupendous movie, another absolute must see, by a group of people I hadn’t encountered before (which may be a failing on my part). The acting, directing, and cinematography are all marvelous, but the ...Read more
- Family ReunionThe Irishman a film by Martin Scorsese. With Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin, Ray Romano. ***** Toward the end of The Irishman, the former union boss and mobster Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro) is looking through some photos in a nursing home while a nurse takes his blood pressure. He asks her if she knows ...Read more
- Poverty Has a SmellParasite a film by Bong Joon Ho. With Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeung Jo, Woi-six Choi. ***** Parasite is a movie about the vast gap in wealth that exists in the world today. It takes place in South Korea, but could take place any number of places, including this country. It begins as a whimsical comedy, ...Read more
- TrulyUnbelievable a limited Netflix series by Lisa Cholodenko, Michael Dinner, Susannah Grant. With Kaitlyn Dever, Toni Collette, Merritt Wever. ***** Unbelievable is a series about a serial rapist, a fact which would normally have taken it off my list. I’m interested in crime dramas, like most people, but rape is too hard to take. But Unbelievable ...Read more
- How Could She Doubt It?Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice a film by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. With Bonnie Raitt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Jackson Browne. **** I missed much of the music of my generation. I was still in touch with mainstream culture through my college years (1966-70), and continued to listen to the radio while I ...Read more
- Don’t Tell Them They Can’tMaiden a film by Frank Bough. With Tracy Edwards, Pat Edwards, Jo Gooding, Nancy Harris. ***** I’m not surprised that a group of women would form a crew to compete in the Whitbread Round the World Race. I’m surprised that anyone would form such a crew. I’m surprised that anyone would want to enter that race, ...Read more
- Sweet SorrowThe Farewell a film by Lulu Wang. With Awkwafina, Shuzshen Zhao, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin. **** I somehow got the feeling from this movie’s trailer—which I’ve seen a number of times—that it was a cute little comedy about pulling the wool over an old lady’s eyes about her cancer diagnosis, just so she wouldn’t be discouraged. ...Read more
- Whose House Is It?The Last Black Man in San Francisco a film by Joe Talbot. With Jimmie Fails, Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover, Tichina Arnold. ****1/2 The Last Black Man in San Francisco was for me a study in faces, the deeply expressive faces of not only its lead actors, but also every actor in the film, from the street ...Read more
- Get Out Your HandkerchiefsPavarotti a film by Ron Howard. With Placido Domingo, Zubin Mehta, Jose Carreras, Bono. ***** Pavarotti is an unabashed example of cinematic hagiography, which tells the life story of Luciano Pavarotti through a group of loving admirers. The film mentions a couple of illicit affairs—including the notorious one that led to his divorce and second marriage—and ...Read more
- But You’ll Wish You CouldThe Dead Don’t Die a film by Jim Jarmusch. With Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Danny Glover. * Early in The Dead Don’t Die, a UPS man makes a delivery to a gas station and convenience store (except it’s WUPS. Clever, huh?), and the geeky manager asks him for some wisdom for the ...Read more
- There’s a Part II?The Souvenir a film by Joanna Hogg. With Honor Swinton Byrne, Tom Burke, Tilda Swinton. ** I realize there’s no accounting for taste, but I like to have some idea in a movie why a woman is attracted to a man, and in the case of The Souvenir I don’t have a clue. He’s somewhat older, ...Read more
- Shit Happens, Thank GodThe Biggest Little Farm a film by John Chester. With Molly Chester, Matthew Pilachowski. ****1/2 My wife and I had a million questions when we walked out of The Biggest Little Farm, the charming and rather amazing documentary that we almost didn’t notice, then went to at the last minute. Where, first of all, did John ...Read more
- Fun Fun FunBooksmart a film by Olivia Wilde. With Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Victoria Ruesga. ****1/2 My first reaction was to be stunned at the sheer talent this movie displays. The hilarious screenplay was written by four women. How does that work? Olivia Wilde’s direction—in her first crack at a full-length movie—is inventive and fast-paced but ...Read more
- Everyday SaintDiane a film by Kent Jones. With Mary Kay Place, Jake Lacy, Estelle Parsons, Andrea Martin **** I’ve seen gritty working class movies before, but never seen a scene quite like one in Diane, where family members and friends are gathered around a small greasy table in a tiny kitchen, and people are drinking soda or ...Read more
- At the End of Her RopeDestroyer a film by Karyn Kusama. With Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbel, Tatiana Maslany, Sebastian Stan. ***** This was the best movie of 2018. I realize that’s an offbeat opinion, but I’ve seen six of the eight Oscar nominees and none was as riveting as Destroyer. As for performances, Nicole Kidman’s is the best by a man or ...Read more
- Better Than I ExpectedThe Upside. A film by Neil Burger. With Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, Nicole Kidman, Julianna Margulies. **** I went to this movie because I hadn’t been to the movies for a while, I was looking for something not too heavy, and I had seen the trailer any number of times, of Kevin Hart looking after a ...Read more
- Why Am I Laughing?Vice a film by Adam McKay. With Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell, Steve Carell. **** I have weirdly mixed feelings about Vice. I want to give it five stars and want to give it one. The performances are brilliant: Christian Bale as Dick Cheney (he gained 45 pounds for the role, and has an uncanny knack for the man’s ...Read more
- A Rage to ConnectAt Eternity’s Gate a film by Julian Schnabel. With Willem Dafoe, Rubert Friend, Oscar Isaac, Emmanuelle Seigner. ****1/2 I don’t know how many movies there have been about Vincent Van Gogh, though I myself have seen three or four. I have not seen the 1956 portrayal by Kirk Douglas, and don’t believe I will. Ever since I was a kid ...Read more
- Downstairs UpstairsRoma a film by Alfonso Cuaron. With Yalitza Aparicio, Marian de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta. ****1/2 After the mind-numbing experience of seeing trailer after trailer in which some gigantic robot is saving the world from some other gigantic robot, it comes as a relief to see a movie in which the final shot—with a wide angle lens—is of ...Read more
- They Got ChemistryGreen Book a film by Peter Farrelly. With Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini. ****1/2 I understand why critics like A.O. Scott might be reluctant to praise Green Book. It’s filled with so many racial and ethnic stereotypes that it’s almost embarrassing. The audience is often dying to laugh but not sure they should. When you’ve ...Read more
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You Need to be WritingThe Other SideThe River is Freedom, the Raft ParadiseThe Nothing of GodWe Are Stardust We Are Golden
View Other Essays by Topic
aging (114)American literature (197)art (109)Buddhism (163)Christianity (119)creative process (232)death and dying (128)meditation (118)movies (152)music (36)race (95)religion (180)sex (157)spirituality (167)the art of narrative (238)Uncategorized (19)world literature (23)