The opening credits for “Nocturnal Animals” let the audience know exactly what they’re getting into. Slow motion shots of morbidly obese women grinding with American flags and sparklers as director (and designer) Tom Ford’s camera lingers on their eyes, pouty lips and massive flesh. Within seconds, my jaw dropped and remained that way for the […]
Screen
Posted inCulture
Gods and Monsters
Disney strikes again with the lovely “Moana”
I sound like a broken record at this point, but I’ll say it again: Disney is having one hell of a year. Not just in terms of dollars at the box office, but creatively they have done some of their best work in years. While “Alice Through the Looking Glass” was rotten and “Queen of […]
Posted inCulture
Hate Will Always Lose
“Loving” tells a timely story of our past
Richard and Mildred Loving didn’t set out to change the world. Richard’s days were mostly spent as a construction worker during the day, or on hot rods in his spare time. Mildred took care of their kids and kept the house. As their case became national news and ended up in the Supreme Court, they […]
Posted inCulture
All Women Are Like What?
I am in no way an opera aficionado, but one of the more popular shows in the canon is Mozart's “Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti.” First performed in Vienna in 1790, it wasn’t considered risqué upon initial release, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries it was downright scandalous. Ferrando and […]
Posted inCulture
Mr. and Mrs. Pitt: “Allied” is almost a classic
When looking at movies that are rightly considered modern classics, it’s easy to forget how some of them flopped commercially and critically when they were first released. Films like “Blade Runner,” “Brazil,” “Shawshank Redemption,” “Citizen Kane,” “Fight Club” and even “It’s a Wonderful Life” were met with audience disinterest and critical shrugs. A big reason […]
Posted inCulture
Black Lives Matter
Come bask in the moonlight
A small young boy is chased through a bad neighborhood of Liberty City, Miami, by a bunch of kids yelling “faggot.” He breaks into a room in an abandoned motel, puts his head on his knees and cries. His tears aren’t those of panic or fear, but of exhaustion. As if he knows that his […]
Posted inCulture
Pott-Heads, Rejoice!
Return to the world of witches, wizards and muggles
It’s been five years since “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” left theaters, marking the end of JK Rowling’s Wonderful Wizarding World on film. As soon as “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was announced, Pott-Heads (I hope I just coined that) around the world rejoiced that we would finally get to […]
Posted inCulture
The Good Stuff is Here
Oscar season has arrived, and with it, some of the
gems you should see before year’s end
Every year critics and audiences alike decry Hollywood for the “fact” that not very good movies come out anymore. There are two reasons why this statement is false: 1) Quite a few good movies come out every year, they just mostly don’t make it to your local theater unless you live in LA, NYC or […]
Posted inCulture
Closed Encounters
“Arrival” lands at the perfect time
The perfect distillation of the movie “Arrival,” as well as that of the last year in politics, happened when I watched the film and the closing credits rolled. Just as the film ended, someone several rows behind me started cheering and applauding while another person sitting in close proximity to them began booing. Then everyone […]
Posted inCulture
Brief Glimpses
It’s everything or nothing with “Certain Women”
Viewers who aren’t trained in the art of arthouse (or the films of writer-director-editor Kelly Reichardt) might complain that “nothing happens” throughout the running time of “Certain Women.” Indeed, most of the incidents in these three cinematic poems are mostly internal. The moments of drama aren’t sweeping, but instead barely registered moments of pain, heartbreak […]