Strad Style documentary review: a heart full of violins (Slamdance 2017)
Wonderful; so funny and strange and human. An amazing portrait of a fascinating character, beautifully told with enormous suspense and tenderness.
reviews
The Lego Batman Movie review: give a minifig
A great Batman movie, a great superhero movie, and a gloriously bonkers expression of the sublime silliness of crime fighters in capes, and our love of them.
20th Century Women movie review: sometimes it’s hard to be a woman
Poignant and hilarious and wise, a melancholy ode to a moment when when the world was changing for women (and men)… and how it still and always is.
Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts (89th Academy Awards) review
I would give the Oscar in a three-way tie to the Syrian-themed nominees, which offer stunningly intimate observations on the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
A Good American documentary review: 9/11 didn’t have to happen
Shocking, essential documentary looks at the shameful and avoidable failure of the NSA to prevent 9/11. All Americans (and everyone else) should see this film.
The Salesman movie review: marriage, Iranian style
This delicately realized portrait of an intellectual Tehran couple could easily be taking place in New York, London, or Tokyo. The empathy machine strikes again.
Denial movie review: a film for the resistance
A terrific legal procedural about defending factual truth and smacking dishonest sowers of doubt. An essential film for our era of “alternative facts.”
The White King movie review: a boy’s-eye view on dystopia
This sad mess of a vaguely sci-fi coming-of-age tale seemingly could not be more plugged into current fears, and yet it feels utterly irrelevant.
Under the Shadow movie review: evil on the wind, and in the home
A sinister tapestry of urban unease and feminist fury that turns an ordinary domestic setting into a place of skulking terror. Original and deeply creepy.
Gold movie review: this mine is tapped out
Not a terrible excuse for entertainment, just very, very familiar, all paradigms that desperately require a shift, in Hollywood and in the real world.
