film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
A same-old tale of apocalypse knows we’ve seen this all before, and so centers human drama over disaster porn. It has nothing new to say, but at least it says it well, with notes of horrific grace.
Meet the “nerdy engineer” who dreamed of a life in aviation… and landed a tin can on the Moon. A deeply moving portrait of the modest man who seems to have been destined for his historic voyage.
This astonishing assemblage of vintage footage, some never before seen, may be unspoilable (we know how it ends) but it’s still hugely suspenseful, and beautifully immersive visually and emotionally.
And now it’s Jorge Antonio Guerrero, who costars in Roma, who can’t get a visa to attend the Oscars…
An essential documentary look at yet another example of historical feminism that should never have been forgotten: the first American in space might have and probably should have been a woman.
A peanut-butter-in-my-chocolate movie, this Die Hard meets Twister monster is so ludicrous it comes all the way back around to being awesome and hilarious.
This Apollo-era would-be suspense-thriller mockumentary is more an exercise in “look how film-school cool and clever we are” than anything else.
The it’s-about-damn-time true story that puts paid to the notion that only white men had the Right Stuff. Often funny, ultimately feel-good, hugely exhilarating.
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I wish I could figure out what this would-be trippy space odyssey wants to say. I was hoping for sci-fi philosophy. I got nothing but lifeless nonsense.
