curated cinema: how societies fall
2010’s Agora is on Prime in the US; DVD only in the UK.
Oscar Isaac
daily stream: Llewyn is the cat…
2013’s Inside Llewyn Davis is on Prime on both sides of the Atlantic.
loaded question: what are the best (and worse) ways characters have unexpectedly reappeared in a story?
I have chosen the absolute nonsense of “Somehow, Palpatine returned,” which is so ridiculous that poor Oscar Isaac seems unable to muster enough enthusiasm to even pretend it makes sense…
weekend watchlist: country twang with a Scottish accent
Plus a soothing science-fiction horror and a scathing not-at-all satire that helps explain Boris Johnson. (First published June 11th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
loaded question: what episodic stuff are you bingeing, and why should we watch it?
There is simply too much stuff to watch these days! So tell us what you’re watching, and why it’s worth our time (or not).
OFCS 2021 awards winners announced
And the winners are…
curated: Oscar Isaac and Timothée Chalamet on playing father and son
I don’t often discuss, in my reviews, actors’ performances, because I’m often aiming to get at the larger cultural impact of movies, but I am fascinated by actors’ craft…
Dune movie review: dreams of alien worlds
Monumental. Villeneuve tells a familiar story with uncommon elegance and pensiveness, even dreaminess, on a breathtaking scale. A stunningly gorgeous, supremely dignified movie about ugly things.
The Card Counter movie review: unnatural stillness at the center of the storm
Grim, mysterious, and unsettling, never more so than when it is quiet and still. But a brutality lurks below its calm, slick surface. Oscar Isaac’s performance is a work of astonishing minimalism.
Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts 2021 (93rd Academy Awards) review
The brilliantly unsettling “Two Distant Strangers” is not only the most important of the nominees but one of the movies of the year, of any length. Its surprises are more brutal than mere plot twists.
