Friday, December 23, 2016

Kubo and the Two Strings

Impressive mostly because it's stop-motion animation (which you shouldn't really be noticing).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4302938/

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Monday, December 12, 2016

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Sunday, December 4, 2016

The Crown: Season 1

The biggest surprise of this series is the cogent explanation of the value of monarchy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4786824/

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Ghostbusters (2016)

It's not a good remake when the only decent joke is a soup joke. Told multiple times.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1289401/

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Doctor Strange

Ahhhh - an origin story that's a story, not a collection of action sequences.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837/

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life

So much to say but I'll just say this: thank you for letting us accept that everyone has aged.

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Arrival

Whoever designed the alien's construction of sentences deserves an Oscar.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164/

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Her Wild Oat

As with so many forgotten silent treasures: startlingly funny and astonishingly stylish.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018993/

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Sisters

I interrupted my viewing to watch the 3 Golden Globe intros again, reminding myself of their versatility.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1850457/

Penny Dreadful: Season 3

So, that's exactly how I expected it to end. How would any other way make sense?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2628232/

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Triple 9

So many heavies - Affleck, Ejiofor, Mackie, Harrelson, Paul, Winslet - and yet so little weight.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1712261/

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Europa Report

Some missteps - grumpy and/or fatalistic crew? no way would they be picked for a mission - but otherwise solid.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051879/

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

As close to a humorous account of embedded journalism in Afghanistan as you're ever going to get.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3553442/

Sunday, September 18, 2016

The Boy and the Beast

On the plus side, I wasn't able to foresee everything about the final fight.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4272866/ (Original title: Bakemono no Ko)

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Jaws

Few words describe one of the best films of all time - except - the Oscar for film editing was well deserved.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/

Friday, September 16, 2016

Sunday, September 11, 2016

Saturday, September 10, 2016

The Finest Hours

More films like this, so folks continue to have a deep respect for the power of water.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2025690/

Friday, September 9, 2016

Thursday, September 8, 2016

The Office: a lot of Seasons 2-9

At the end of every show I would say "I hate this show!" because I learned to love it so much.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386676/

Monday, September 5, 2016

The Walking Dead: Season 6

And now we come to the point in the series where we start messing with style to make the original story stay interesting.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1520211/

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Star Trek Beyond

You gotta give props to an action film with no action for the first 20 minutes.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660888/

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Monday, July 18, 2016

Sicario

The premise may be shoddy, but the minimalist style is a breath of fresh air.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3397884/

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Boy & the World

Only heavy-handed once (inclusion of live-action footage), so both lovely and relevant.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183630/ (Original title: O Menino e o Mundo)

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries: Seasons 2 and 3

OK, so that got a lot better. Likely the escalating tension between Phreney and Jack, or more confidence in their plots, or both.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1988386/

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Zootopia

Question for our times: do kids understand the moral issues, outside of the clever back-n-forth?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2948356/

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Suffragette

I knew all of this... until I got to the final list of countries and when they gave women the vote. Switzerland? 1971?!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3077214/

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Friday, June 17, 2016

Spy

Feig & McCarthy are clearly geniuses since they know precisely how to make fun of wine snobbery.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3079380/

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Jimmy's Hall

The thing about Loach films is that they're told so plainly there's nothing but fact and thus no compelling story.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3110960/

Monday, June 13, 2016

Modern Family: Season 7

Episode 18? Why would you make a joke about the lack of women going to geek films? Do they not know their audience?

The Peanuts Movie

Those were the days: of telephone cords and school dances and kite-flying.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452042/

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Steve Jobs

Disappointed in Sorkin's need to go Hollywood in the 3rd act, but otherwise, yes, this is why I get to love my Mac.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2080374/

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Joy

Don't trust the lawyers, don't trust the family, but do trust your instincts. Well, duh.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2446980/

Friday, June 3, 2016

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Captain America: Civil War

Cannot decide which is my favorite: iconic image of Cap'n and Iron Man battling or goofy image of Spiderman and Cap'n fighting.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3498820/

The Experimenter

I don't know how else you make a dry subject interesting, but this one only gets halfway.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3726704/

Friday, May 13, 2016

Monday, May 9, 2016

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Thursday, May 5, 2016

The Danish Girl

Bypassing all the hype about whether this was an appropriate transgender film - it's definitely lovingly acted.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810819/

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Daredevil: Season 1

I truly value the complexity of D'Onofrio's performance, but couldn't care less about Cox's.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322312/

Monday, May 2, 2016

Mr. Holmes

I find it hard to believe that Holmes losing his memory means he also has lost his intellect.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3168230/

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Saturday, April 23, 2016

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2

I just want Elizabeth Banks' eyelashes. This means I missed the entire point of the movies, right?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951266/

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Game of Thrones: Season 5

At least I'm caught up to the books, although that will make no difference whatsoever, apparently.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Carol

As with any Todd Haynes film: gorgeously rendered and thoughtfully depicted.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2402927/

The Good Dinosaur

When, oh when, will Disney put a family-friendly film that doesn't have only traditional definitions of family in it?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1979388/

Labyrinth of Lies

My take-away from this film was a couple hours of Wikipedia reading.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3825638/ (Original title: Im Labyrinth des Schweigens)

Friday, March 25, 2016

The Event

Won the "Michael Moore Award for Best Documentary Film" for a reason.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4900156/

No Home Movie

Revealing, extraordinary, heartbreaking, subtle. Too bad it wasn't in competition at AAFF '16.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4881016/

Fragment 53, Liberian Notes

The access to these men is stunning, but why would they provide this access?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4378452/ (Original title: Frammento 53)

The Illinois Parables

I am completely down with a documentary in this style for every state in the union.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5103864/

From the East

Damn, this was absolutely fascinating before the celluloid starting burning.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106642/ (Original title: D'Est)

The Prison in Twelve Landscapes

Way more cohesive (with the edits) than when I saw it as a screener.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5546192/

News from Home

Akerman's sound design is something to be marveled at.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076452

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Black Mass

Boston's getting a lot of play recently: first Spotlight, now Black Mass. What's next?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1355683/

Friday, March 11, 2016

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Friday, March 4, 2016

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Monday, February 22, 2016

The Intern

Is it just me, or is the post-post-post-feminist feel of this film strangely unsettling?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2361509/

The Walk

I don't think I've ever had flop sweat watching a movie before.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3488710/

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Monday, February 15, 2016

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Monday, February 8, 2016

What If

Bog-standard, new-school film romance. I'd love to see the play, though.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1443740/

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Meru

When the camera only moves an inch and shows both sides of a mountain? That's why I'll never be a rock climber.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2545428/

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Fargo: Season 2

Morals of the story: be nice, play fair, and always take folks you run over to the hospital.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2802850/

Friday, January 29, 2016

The Knick: Season 1

Quite interested in whether that bag of money had anything to do with not having the abortion.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2937900/

Goosebumps

Perfect for watching with a fever, but not really for any other situation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1051904/

Trainwreck

Rats, am I the only one who rolls their eyes at sportsball "dancers"?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3152624/

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Penny Dreadful: Season 2

In case anyone wonders about that title, it should prove that this series is not for the faint of heart.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2628232/

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Penny Dreadful: Season 1

Ms. Green must be either very interested in the circus or have had gymnastics training.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2628232/

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

What We Do in the Shadows

This is what happens when your college buddies have an outstanding comedy sketch idea.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416742/

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Testament of Youth

The outcome of Brittain's novel was a call for no more war, which the film aptly reflects.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441953/

When Marnie Was There

Thematically fits into the Ghibli stable, but I wanted something old-school as their final foray.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3398268/ (Original title: Omoide no Mânî)

Minions

Sometimes you have to watch something dumb, but in this case, I wish dumb hadn't also been substandard.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2293640/

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Magic Mike XXL

It's (some surprisingly natural-sounding) bro talk with (some not surprisingly titillating) dancing thrown in.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2268016/

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Orphan Black: Season 3

That final episode is putting us in some twisted version of The Twilight Zone?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234222/

The Hateful Eight

I'm of the type who brays with laughter when the Tarantino gore begins, so do think twice before inviting me to the theater.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/

Friday, January 1, 2016

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Amidst a great deal of extravagant machinations, that oh-so-famous quote finally rears its head.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1475582/