My dream format for writing about movies would be to write about one big and one little movie every week. That way I can be a part of the conversation connected to the newest blockbuster everyone is watching while also trying to bring attention to a smaller movie that deserves more eyeballs aimed at it. […]
Film
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The Next Wave Arrives
Rebel Ridge, Jeremy Saulnier and the new guard
Last week I wrote about the New Hollywood movement of auteur filmmaking in the 1960s and 1970s, and it got me thinking. I spent 1,000 words talking about how seminal this period of cinema was, and I realized that I was lamenting missing out on living through that era and what it would have been […]
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The Auteur Era
Having a conversation about the American New Wave
For cinephiles like me, it’s hard to really overhype the importance of the American New Wave (AKA New Hollywood) era of movies that lasted from the mid-1960s to the early ’80s. It was not only important in how, for a very limited amount of time, the era transferred the authorial role of filmmaking from the […]
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May the Source Be With You: August Edition
A24, reality television and the search for happiness
Whelp, I used a blanket for the first time in months this weekend, so that must mean fall is around the corner and the summer that seemed like it lasted two weeks is almost over. That’s OK for me since it doesn’t change my routines too much (until winter and my Seasonal Affective Disorder rears […]
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In Space, No One Can Hear Your Chest Bursting
"Alien: Romulus" scares up a mixed bag of fun
Depending on what you think of the “Alien” franchise, the following statement will either sound like a huge compliment or damning with faint praise: “Alien: Romulus” is the third best film of the franchise by a hair. Set between 1979’s seminal sci-fi/horror masterpiece “Alien” and James Cameron’s 1986 action extravaganza “Aliens,” director Fede Álvarez has […]
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The Bad, the Worse and the Horrendous
‘Borderlands,’ ‘Cuckoo’ and ‘Trap’ ruin my day
As someone who has spent a majority of their life writing, acting, rehearsing and basically doing anything and everything they can to make it into the motion picture industry, I can’t bring myself to be cynical about movies, even while knowing there’s lots of cynicism to spread around. While it’s easier now to make a […]
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Underdogs No More
Deadpool and Wolverine vs. cinematic elitism
You know, it’s funny. I watch everything. Everything. From Slow Cinema masterpieces like “A Ghost Story” and “Memoria” to every new Adam Sandler movie that comes out to all the random art and schlock in between. Comic book movies, South Korean revenge stories, queer Western romances, science fiction slapstick comedies…all movies deserve a chance to […]
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Halfway Check-In
The best movies and shows of the year so far
We’re a little more than halfway through 2024, which seems like an appropriate time to look back at some of the best movies and shows of the year that I’ve seen. Usually, the real bangers come in the fourth quarter, but 2024 has been pretty solid so far when it comes to films that are […]
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An American Tale
Costner returns to epic filmmaking with "Horizon"
Kevin Costner is now and will always be an icon. Even with what could somewhat of a limited range as an actor, he’s always managed to instill the characters he has played with varying levels of flawed humanity and a certain unquantifiable vibe of old-fashioned movie star charisma, mixed with a ’50s-style drip of cowboy […]
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Storm in the Heartland
"Twisters" embraces the formula while subtly subverting it
I don’t think I’m as much of a film snob as I’m supposed to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love a complicated and mind-bending independent film that melts my brain and inspires me to write 1,000 words on the cinematic language of the New Hollywood movement, but I equally love a good disaster movie or […]