film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022
This should be salacious! We should revel in the seething jealousy and simmering resentments! But there’s not much suspense or engagement in waiting for someone to die, nor in finding out whodunnit.
Riveting, terrifying, and unafraid to confront its own quiet horror. One of the most important movies ever about nuclear weapons and modern governance.
Tons of spoilers. Don’t read until you’ve seen the episode.
I receive more DVDs in the mail than I can possibly ever review, and here I run them down once a week. This are all Region 1, though I’ll note if they’re available in Region 2, too. (And as an aside to all those British DVD publicists out there, I’m totally open to checking out … more…
The secret life of bees? More like the secret life of women. The bee thing, it’s a metaphor, see, for how half the human race lives shrouded in mystery and darkness and, I guess, sweetness and honey.
BEST ACTOR Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda It’s a role that, in the hands of even another very competent actor, could have descended into pathos and sentimentality, but Cheadle’s performance goes way beyond mere competence: As an Oskar Schindler-type figure in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, he approaches incomprehensible horrors in a way that makes us intimate partners … more…
