curated: Oscar Isaac and Timothée Chalamet on playing father and son
I don’t often discuss, in my reviews, actors’ performances, because I’m often aiming to get at the larger cultural impact of movies, but I am fascinated by actors’ craft…
Dune movie review: dreams of alien worlds
Monumental. Villeneuve tells a familiar story with uncommon elegance and pensiveness, even dreaminess, on a breathtaking scale. A stunningly gorgeous, supremely dignified movie about ugly things.
question of the weekend: is there an actor whose presence in a film or TV show guarantees that you won’t watch it?
Prompted by the news that Mel Gibson will be starring in the John Wick TV spinoff The Continental, and the generally appalled reaction from fans. Who are your dealbreakers?
Cop Secret movie review: cold fuzz (LFF 2021)
Absolutely hilarious Icelandic sendup of action buddy cop movies. Knowing, sneaky, and deliciously deadpan, upending toxic masculinity and elevating the usual subtext of the genre to the overt text.
‘99 Tiny Terrors’ is nigh…
I have a piece of horror flash fiction in this new anthology. The ebook and print-on-demand paperback versions will be on sale at the end of this month, and you can get in on a Kickstarter for hardback and faux-leatherbound editions available early next year.
curated: say hello to photographer John Benton-Harris
John’s work might typically be called street photography, but he calls himself a visual sociologist. I call him “uncle,” and we’re working on a small project together, which we’ll share in the coming months…
question of the weekend: what’s your favorite road-trip movie?
I want to assure you, dear readers, that my pal Shirley and I, currently on a mini road trip through Wales, have no intentions of replicating Thelma and Louise’s misadventures.
the return of Nigel the Charity Pig
Longtime readers will remember Nigel the Charity Pig, my sometimes traveling companion. He and I — and my human friend Shirley — are on a little road trip for a couple of days… COVID-safe, of course!
No Time to Die movie review: no, Mr Bond, I expect you to retire
In the era of COVID and Brexit, much of this overstuffed adventure feels redundant, farcical, inconsequential, and desperate. But Ana de Armas and Lashana Lynch show us the way to a future for 007.
curated: the boy who was almost Anakin Skywalker
Please watch this absolutely bittersweet and poignant short film about Devon Michael, a child star in the 1990s who was on the very shortlist to play Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace…
