Is Sam Elliott a national treasure? Are we comfortable as a society giving him that honor, or is that something we collectively decide posthumously? I grew up watching the off-brand Sam Elliott Westerns such as “The Shadow Riders,” “The Hi-Lo Country,” and “Conagher.” Sure, it might be stuff like “Tombstone” and “Road House” that made […]
Sisters Movie House
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Gigantic
Colossal is the Citizen Kane of Monster Movies
Don’t read this review. Sorry, I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but one of the true joys of cinema I have had this year was watching “Colossal” without knowing anything about it. As the plot continued to escalate and become darker and entirely unpredictable, I realized I was watching one of the […]
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Lovesong In A Minor Key
Poetry is alive in cinema
There’s something perfect about a film like this being called “Lovesong.” Every moment of the movie feels lyrical, like the beginning lines of a poem before we can see its form or understand its content. The movie will be categorized as an LGBTQ romance, but it’s also filled with sweeping moments of breathtaking sadness that […]
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Night Moves
“Nocturnal Animals” is a challenging work of art
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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A Man and His Horse
“Harry & Snowman” vs. the blue bloods
So many modern documentaries don’t even feel like the truth anymore. With expertly composed frames and painterly cinematography, documentaries can sometimes feel like dramatic reenactments more than slices of history or current events. Those kinds of docs can be powerful and gorgeous to look at, but something feels inherently manufactured about them. That’s why “Harry […]