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.”
reviews by year
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.
Split movie review: time for another round of “What the Hell Was M. Night Shyamalan Thinking?”
Lurid and squicky, Split treads water and keeps too many secrets on a dull path to the revelation of its self-satisfied cleverness.
Antarctica: Ice and Sky (aka Ice and the Sky) (La glace et le ciel) documentary review: how we know we are burning the planet
A deeply personal memoir from the scientist with a “wild empathy for the planet” who locked down the human responsibility for global warming.
The Founder movie review: look at what the golden arches hath wrought
Rather brilliant and kind of inspiring until it turns frightening and even sinister. A dark tale of the beginning of end-stage capitalism as profit above all.
The Bye Bye Man movie review: don’t think it, don’t say it, don’t see it
One of the most inept films I’ve ever seen. Cheaply made, poorly directed, badly acted, oddly edited, and ultimately insultingly stupid.
La La Land movie review: city of stars, shining just for us
A marvel. Funny and exuberant and bittersweet and cliché-busting and unexpected as hell. We are going to need more movies like this one.
Zero Days documentary review: the code war has begun
Fascinating and horrifying. A gripping detective story and an impassioned call for public debate over terrifying weapons that have already been loosed.
