weekend watchlist: when the ghosts won’t shut up
Plus sci-fi noir, sun-fueled madness, and more. (First published August 12th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
Henry Hill
Push documentary review: why the rent is too damn high (and how to fix it)
Badass UN Special Rapporteur Leilani Farha probes the global housing crisis and breaks down the complex cause into something readily comprehensible… then enraging. (But she has a solution, too.)
Green Book movie review: a road frequently taken, but a lovely trip nevertheless (LFF 2018)
The tune may be familiar, but it is performed with virtuoso style, its central characters drawn with wit, charm, and complexity and brought to life via the absolutely gorgeous performances of its stars.
The Wolf of Wall Street review: legitimate businessman
A debauched end-of-empire horror story disguised as an outrageous comedy, with remarkable performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.
trailer break: ‘Casino Jack’
This looks like GoodFellas… but Henry Hill and the mafia could only dream of the kind of crimes Jack Abramoff committed.
cinematic roots of: ‘Middle Men’
In *Middle Men,* Luke Wilson invents porn on the Internet and then thinks it’s a bad idea, but no backsies, he’s stuck with the Russian mobsters who want his money and him dead… This flick sprang from (among other films)…
Lord of War movie review: sympathy for the devil?
Funny? Sure, *Lord of War* is funny. Funny like how you’re not sure whether that headline is from Reuters or The Onion. Funny like how Jon Stewart has to insist that what he’s about to tell you really happened and is not the invention of his team of political wagsters. Satirical? Sure, *Lord of War* is satirical. Satirical like the front page of *The New York Times* is satirical. Satirical like how, at the end of Andrew Niccol’s black comedy about a relatively small-time freelance arms dealer, he tells us that the biggest arms dealers in the world are the nations that are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
GoodFellas movie review: king of the hill
This is the best mob movie ever made.
