Have you guys ever had those nights where you stick around some probably horrible people because you’re already kinda drunk and there might be fun drugs coming and if nothing else this could make for a good story? Now imagine doing that in your mid-30s, at your kid’s first playdate in a new town. Welcome […]
Film
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West of Eden
Slow West and the possibilities of the western
In the final frames of Slow West, the camera pauses over the bodies of all the characters that have died. In quick, static shots, the audience is reminded of every corpse—those of major characters and incidental figures alike—that contributed to the movie’s body count. That tally is substantial: Slow West is a story of guns […]
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Right-Side In
Inside Out: The Pixar movie adults have been waiting for
Are you the type of barren, childless adult who feels weird going to Pixar movies by yourself? Well…maybe you should. BUT! I strongly advise you to put those feelings aside (or rent a kid from your neighbors or the Duggar family) and see Inside Out, Pixar’s latest kids’ movie that’s actually for adults. If you’ve […]
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Attn: Clothes Nerds!
Hey, look, it’s a movie about clothes
Director Frédéric Tcheng is carving out a niche. With 2008’s Valentino: The Last Emperor, 2011’s Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, and now Dior and I, Tcheng’s work in film has been exclusively devoted to documenting characters and moments in the world of high fashion. (True, Valentino was directed by Matt Tyrnauer—but given his […]
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Summertime, and the Box Office is Humming
A few summer film standouts
This summer is an odd mix of reprisals—Poltergeist, Vacation (really?), and Jurassic Park—as well as the normal dose of superhero films—Fantastic Four (messing it up once wasn’t enough?), Ant-man—but it also has a surprising helping of high quality documentaries. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (June 12): The likely contender for summer favorite breakout […]
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Hipster-sploitation
While We’re Young cuts both ways
God bless Greta Gerwig, and not just for her own terrific gifts. Greenberg, her first personal and professional collaboration with director Noah Baumbach, proved to be a fantastic match, most notably in how her loopy carbonation as a performer seemed to shake the filmmaker from an increasingly caustic, none-more-bleak path. (I firmly believe Baumbach’s Margot […]
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Not Where, But How You Get There
For Thousands of Miles documents a bike journey
It’s become popular to focus on the “journey” rather than the “destination.” And yet, most journeys do reach a conclusion. Less discussed is what happens when you arrive. For Thousands of Miles (FTOM) explores the emotional impact of an arduous and solitary cross-country bike ride, and one man’s struggle to reckon with the after-journey. Inspired […]
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Unholy Matrimony
Maybe don’t ever get married if you
live in Israel
You know what seems horrible? Getting divorced! You know what seems extra horrible? Getting divorced in Israel! In Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, Viviane, an Israeli woman, unhappily married since she was a teenager, finally decides to put her terrible marriage out of its misery. Good move, Viviane! Only, thanks to arcane religious laws, […]
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Things Fall Apart
Wild Tales for the social skeptic
Let’s just say I’m no stranger to the record scratch—that moment in human interaction when politeness fails, collective agreements about normalcy retire, and situations take on a new and horrible independence. It’s shocking and dangerous to be caught in such a scene, but it’s also tinged with a surreal, anarchic hilarity. Such events are commonly […]
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Rich Dude’s Lament
It’s so hard to care about Adult Beginners
“Rich white guy loses all his money” is probably a really compelling pitch to other rich white guys. Cue shirtless rich dude staring bleakly into his bathroom mirror: “What if all this money is keeping me from living an authentic life?” Etc. If you’re not innately drawn to the premise, however, it’s hard to get […]
