curated cinema: two great movies by Rob Reiner
Watch 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap and 1987’s The Princess Bride and be reminded why Reiner was a gentle genius.
New York City
The Apprentice movie review: Donald Trump’s origin story as a loser and a user
A portrait of a weak man, humorless and friendless, desperate to be liked, desperate to be seen as someone who matters. Sebastian Stan’s brilliantly disgusting Trump is horrifically riveting.
The Brutalist movie review: red, white, and brutal
Stark and unsentimental, as stubborn and as challenging as its protagonist, and as monumental as his works. Adrien Brody’s performance is extraordinary, full of flinty anger and palpable melancholy.
Your Monster movie review: embrace the beast
Sure, the humor may be bitter, the horror may be audacious, and the overriding genre may be “anti-romance.” But this hugely original, grimly delightful howl of feminine rage is actually kinda sweet.
Robot Dreams movie review: sighs of the machines
Immerse yourself in pure unalloyed joy with a sweet, deceptively simple carbon-silicon platonic romance. Even the poignant bittersweetness of this emotional roller coaster is affirming and uplifting.
IF movie review: a fantastical vibe in search of a story
Writer-director John Krasinski’s absolute desperation to whip up magical whimsy utterly fails. No matter how he tries to force enchantment into existence, this is more fever dream than flight of fancy.
curated cinema: because Harvey Weinstein can go f**k himself for a change
2020’s The Assistant is on Kanopy in the US, BFI Player in the UK (and on lots of other services on both sides of the Atlantic, too).
Civil War movie review: a craven view from nowhere
A spineless dystopian action drama that defaults to a dangerously irresponsible both-sides-ism; its pretense of “objectivity” is unfair to the journalist protagonists the film thinks it’s championing.
Madame Web movie review: absurdly tangled
A travesty of corporate cynicism. Its desperation to ride Spider-Man’s coattails is pathetic, but its convoluted, coincidence-laden nonsense is duller than you’d imagine: it’s not even so bad it’s fun.
daily stream: an elegantly nuanced story of emigration
2015’s Brooklyn is on Prime in the US, Lionsgate+ in the UK (and other services as well).
