film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022
Steady your heart palpitations: it’s the same old era for the nicest feudal hangover. The delusional reactionary fantasy of wealth and privilege for some, cheerful servitude for others remains intact.
Apocalyptically sorta-satirical, bone-deep terrifying slap in the face that humanity has properly earned. Formidable, intense… and funny, in a very dry way that is nevertheless difficult to laugh at.
Not a spy thriller but a story of emotional and intellectual suspense wrangling with matters of patriotism and of conscience, and of just how far journalism’s watchdog role can and should take it.
Wherein the working class revels in servitude, and wealth and privilege are deserved. Deeply reactionary and unlikely to please anyone not already enamored of the show. I get Anglophilia, but really?
A wonderfully old-fashioned tearjerker, with a thoroughly delightful cast, where cosy quaint Englishness is leavened by a harsh reality of World War II that pop culture has ignored.
Glances at fundamental questions of identity and humanity and decides that they are best resolved via fistfights, gun battles, and car chases.
Wonderful true story about a mixed-race woman raised in aristocratic late-18th-century England; like the best Jane Austen romance with a social conscience.
Don’t be jealous if I tell you I once knew a guy who looked a lot like Matthew Goode…
Fashion designer Tom Ford has made the cinematic equivalent of a fashion magazine spread…
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, except you’re way too scared to actually ask out the girl you like. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, “Hey, did you see Youth … more…
