Finding Emily movie review: call waiting
A smart, funny switched-up Cinderella for the social-media era with lots to say about modern dating and gender relations that is caustic, optimistic, and exasperated all at once. Instant comfort movie.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma movie review: no such thing as “just a movie”
A blood-gushing, cheerfully horny phantasmagorical black comedy fueled by writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s unique understanding of fandom and the intense relationships we can have with pop culture.
curated cinema: nailing a crooked politician, and making it good TV
2008’s Frost/Nixon is on Prime and Apple TV on both sides of the Atlantic.
curated cinema: what Jeff Bezos threw away in The Washington Post
2017’s The Post is on Prime and Apple TV on both sides of the Atlantic.
curated cinema: the criminal conspiracy is coming from inside the White House
1976’s All the President’s Men is on Prime and Apple TV on both sides of the Atlantic, and on HBO Max in the US till June 1.
I’m coming back — pinky promise! — next week
Putting this out into the universe for it and you all to see and hear…
my picks for tomorrow night’s 98th Academy Awards (the Oscars for 2025’s films) (winners indicated)
I correctly guessed 12 out of the 24 categories, which is about as well as I usually do. (Ten of my “should win”s did win!) At least I’m consistent.
curated cinema: two great movies by Rob Reiner
Watch 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap and 1987’s The Princess Bride and be reminded why Reiner was a gentle genius.
Wake Up Dead Man movie review: knives way the hell out (London Film Festival 2025)
Rian Johnson’s third outing with droll detective Benoit Blanc, perhaps the most memorable original new movie character in decades, is a grimly funny gothic romp through modern hot-button Americana.
Bugonia movie review: worst contact (London Film Festival 2025)
Grimly hilarious, this mashup of black comedy, social commentary, suspense, and horror is sharp and stinging, with a haunting gut punch of a finale… and it’s Yorgos Lanthimos’s most accessible film yet.
