Film Studies
Apocalypse Now and the cost of imperialism
Coppola’s detached, nihilistic opus somehow accepts the idea that American soldiers suffered the worst during the War in Vietnam.
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Apocalypse Now and the cost of imperialism
Coppola’s detached, nihilistic opus somehow accepts the idea that American soldiers suffered the worst during the War in Vietnam.
Happy Gilmore 2 is an admirably okay legacy sequel
Happy Madison Productions’ cynically produced continuation of a story which concluded 29 years ago fails to enrich the original, but its effect is ultimately harmless.
Hard Eight, a prodigious 26-year-old’s homage to the wizened masters of the past
The movie offering the most insight into Paul Thomas Anderson’s whole career is also his first.
Deadpool & Wolverine is the safest possible version of itself
Shawn Levy’s latest collaboration with Ryan Reynolds is not an irreverent mockery of Marvel, but a redressing of what to expect from multiverse gruel.
Dead Poets Society and its fake rebellion
Opposition to authority in Peter Weir’s coming-of-age dramedy consists of the kind of life advice that should remain on Hallmark cards.
Aesthetic politics in The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
Miyazaki’s reckoning with beauty and fascism is depicted with more depth in this documentary than his own The Wind Rises.
Obligatory praise for 2001
Kubrick’s canonized magnum opus spells great and terrible things for the future humanity is building for itself.
Hollywood fascism and Barton Fink
The Coens portray various forms of disingenuous malice within the American entertainment industry through two powerhouse lead performances.
Jacques Tati inimitably satirizes the waste of industrialism in PlayTime
Sound and dimension are used to their fullest extent to disorient Monsieur Hulot, as well as the audience, in the intricate metropolis of this macroscopic comedy.
Brazil and the capitalist hellscape that it shamelessly mocks
Through astounding spectacle, Terry Gilliam projects his truly original, dystopian nightmares to the screen.
Everything you’ve heard about Earwig and the Witch is true (derogatory)
You have no reason to see this ugly and deeply uncomfortable mistake of a film.
Robin Robin is some cute fare from a studio at the height of its talents
All is not lost in a world where Aardman hangs onto its status as a wholly original animation house that gets to make shorts like this.
The Founder is a convincing, albeit confined biography of a vulture
No one will come away from this movie respecting Ray Kroc, but in the hands of John Lee Hancock, no one will be pushed to excessively question capitalism either.
Endlessly energetic, Miyazaki’s Lupin movie cannot be understated in its creativity.
Literally, it actively refuses to be understated or relaxed, it will not slow down.
Spencer is a fantastical study into the character of Princess Diana
Kristen Stewart’s performance in this fable is fully captured by Pablo Larraín’s surreally tense direction.
Wes Anderson is feeding his indulgences more than usual in The French Dispatch
Politics are supercharged in the director’s latest feature, but so is the dollhouse.
The unfortunately entertaining conservative utopia of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Tarantino directs a movie too stylish for its own good in his obsessive effort to revive the glitz and glamour of a Los Angeles which never existed.
Minority Report and the absolute power of law enforcement
This manic, impeccably directed thriller presents fascinating ruminations on the control pursued by the highest authorities of society.
Ghibli never misses, I swear. Just ignore Ocean Waves.
As it turns out, disaster strikes when you hand young, unexperienced animators the most stressful job in the world.
The Wizard of Lies assumes a lot about how much I pity the Madoff family
There is little justification as to why this film follows the successors to corporate greed as though they are tragic victims.
The Dead Don’t Die is even more baffling than you think
Jim Jarmusch’s zombie “comedy” is animated by boredom, malice for the general public, and the most ridiculous Tilda Swinton cameo ever.
The foundational empathy at the heart of Princess Mononoke
Human industry’s willful exploitation of nature is met with violent revenge from the forest’s protectors in Miyazaki’s deeply political epic.
Squid Game = capitalism, et cetera
Anti-capitalist media made by capitalists may ultimately serve capitalism, but this series undoubtedly raises the right questions.
Only Yesterday and the familiarity of boredom
Unless you are constantly riveted by the plot of your everyday life, Isao Takahata’s intimate film will remind you of yourself.
The Guilty is a classic wrongheaded remake of a foreign film
Jake Gyllenhaal’s central performance commands enough fury to carry the chamber piece, but doesn’t justify why it is one in the first place.
I’m not being an alarmist when I tell you Free Guy is from Hell
The Academy Award-nominated Fortnite movie is our punishment for entrusting Taika Waititi and Ryan Reynolds with blank cheques to corporate franchise filmmaking.
A violent visualization of the vindication of veracity (I guess)
I venture to say that this profoundly corny action epic about “totalitarianism” wants to be more important than it actually is.
Rushmore or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Max Fischer
I’m not so sure about how Anderson’s second feature handles its narcissistic protagonist.
An insufficient analysis of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata’s magnum opus is a true masterwork to which no writing can ever do justice — at least not mine.
Oscar bait, as directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Miyazaki’s first and last biopic is as epic as his fantasies, but held hostage by the political baggage of fascist history.
There’s no movie more underrated than Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy
Although the troupe’s headline movie found no critical or commercial success at the time, today it is a riot.