Lingua Franca (Isabel Sandoval, 2019)
One of the year's best American films appears to have been overlooked by a significant portion of the c...
2021-01-21 05:20:51 +0000 UTC View Post
msicism posts
The Novel of Werther (Max Ophüls, 1938)
Hard to evaluate, largely because of the deterioration of the copy I had to watch, Werther is ...
2021-01-19 00:02:00 +0000 UTC View PostHerself (Phyllida Lloyd, 2020)
While I wouldn't make any great claims for Herself, it boasts a few significant elements that ...
2021-01-18 01:48:22 +0000 UTC View PostLetter From an Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)
This is a tricky one, partly because Ophüls is negotiating a number of different registers here. I'm t...
2021-01-15 03:47:26 +0000 UTC View PostThe Salt of Tears (Philippe Garrel, 2020)
You know, the sorts of things people say about Hong Sangsoo would apply just as well to Philippe Garrel...
2021-01-13 21:11:45 +0000 UTC View PostLes Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019)
I don't have a great deal to say about this one. I mostly watched it to bring my 2019 Cannes bingo card...
2021-01-12 22:04:58 +0000 UTC View PostSoul (Pete Docter, 2020)
For the most part, Soul is a genial riff on the sorts of themes that Pixar has been working wi...
2021-01-11 19:11:36 +0000 UTC View PostPatreon Extra: The Ballad of Liv and Laurie
When Matt was a kid, around the ages of 4 and 5, he had his favorite YouTube channels. Most kids are like this today, and Matt had a few common interest points with others of his generation. He lov...
2021-01-10 21:17:33 +0000 UTC View PostA Girl Missing (Kôji Fukada, 2019)
For a film so concerned with formal control, A Girl Missing is really very undisciplined. For ...
2021-01-10 20:44:57 +0000 UTC View PostIf the Republic is crumbling....
... I humbly suggest the above for the new National Anthem. Four seconds, then play ball!
2021-01-09 06:22:45 +0000 UTC View PostNo really, PLEASE don't tread on me.
I'm starting to think we are in a Wag the Dog scenario, masterminded by Ryan Murphy. This shit...
2021-01-09 05:22:32 +0000 UTC View PostLa Ronde (Max Ophüls, 1950)
"Sophistication" and "urbanity" are threatening to become overused watchwords in my discussion of Max O...
2021-01-09 05:16:16 +0000 UTC View PostThe Earrings of Madame de... (Max Ophüls, 1953)
The first thing I noticed about The Eaarings is that Ophüls displays a moral sophistication a...
2021-01-08 23:00:31 +0000 UTC View PostWaffle House Special: Fried Eggs
Reportedly his last words were "I conquered Thebes."
UPDATE: Sadly, i...
2021-01-08 19:13:55 +0000 UTC View PostThis is fucked up.
Sorry, I'm a bit distracted from movies and such. Never been in an attempted coup. I'm sure our friends...
2021-01-07 00:24:22 +0000 UTC View PostGetting to Know You #1: Max Ophüls
Sorry for the delay in posting. Like many of you, I had Georgia on my mind.
So the winner i...
2021-01-06 17:41:00 +0000 UTC View PostShithouse (Cooper Raiff, 2020)
Sometimes films try something bold and it doesn't quite work. You can admire the ambition while still r...
2021-01-04 19:43:30 +0000 UTC View PostGetting To Know You #1: a Georgia Runoff
Luckily, there are only winners here.
Below are the top three choices for January's Filmatist of ...
2021-01-02 19:48:53 +0000 UTC View PostThe Disciple (Chaitanya Tamhane, 2020)
One of the enduring portraits of failure, in both the theater and the cinema, is Peter Shaffer's hypoth...
2021-01-02 06:17:04 +0000 UTC View PostDa 5 Bloods (Spike Lee, 2020)
Obviously I'm a bit late to this one, since I made the choice to hold off watching it until 12/31/20. S...
2021-01-01 21:37:26 +0000 UTC View PostLos conductos (Camilo Restrepo, 2020)
Two films I've seen discussed a lot in recent months are also two films I've been pretty ambivalent abo...
2021-01-01 19:43:10 +0000 UTC View PostGetting to Know You... (Happy 2021)
We made it! 2021. In these deeply unsettled times, I want to offer my gratitude for all of you who have...
2021-01-01 17:47:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe Kid Detective (Evan Morgan, 2020)
The Kid Detective is the sort of movie I wouldn't ordinarily think twice about. It played at T...
2021-01-01 03:13:57 +0000 UTC View PostClosing Out 2020: Bang or Whimper?
Tomorrow I am going to finally watch Da 5 Bloods, so...
2020-12-31 05:41:49 +0000 UTC View PostAnother Round (Thomas Vinterberg, 2020)
A film that would've been in Competition if Cannes 2020 had happened, Another Round would sure...
2020-12-30 02:20:46 +0000 UTC View Posts01e03 (Kurt Walker, 2020)
Occasionally, a film manages to go right to the heart of one of the defining cultural crises of the era...
2020-12-30 01:56:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe Trouble With Being Born (Sandra Wollner, 2020)
The Trouble With Being Born is very reminiscent of Markus Schleinzer's 2011 film Michael 2020-12-28 20:12:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Guest of Honour (Atom Egoyan, 2019)
I realize it's unfashionable to appreciate Atom Egoyan these days. The official line is that he is "was...
2020-12-28 05:03:59 +0000 UTC View PostMa Rainey's Black Bottom (George C. Wolfe, 2020)
It must be said, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is more of a filmed play than a movie. Denzel Washin...
2020-12-24 21:16:39 +0000 UTC View PostThe Cloud in Her Room (Zheng Lu Xinyuan, 2020)
Zheng Lu Xinyuan's The Cloud in Her Room is a forbidding film at first. Although it quite clea...
2020-12-22 02:38:08 +0000 UTC View Post