film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
I’m thinking specifically about movies you wish more people had seen so that we — the big cultural We — could talk about it. Or even just so that you could talk to other movie fans about it.
An electrifying style lights up this geek adventure of the intersections between science, culture, and capitalism in the 19th-century battle to power our world. Cumberbatch and Shannon are brilliant.
A fiercely feminist and proudly revisionist historical drama that offers a powerful and much-needed rebuke to modern Christianity. Enrapturingly beautiful and intensely emotional.
Karma is cancelled.
It’s sort of like someone getting blasted by an atom bomb and then commenting on how lovely and warm the weather suddenly is.
What’s that? A movie starring Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers can’t get released in North America?
Every week my browser gets cluttered up with tabs for stuff that I stumble across and figure I might be able to use as a Question of the Day or a WTF Thought for the Day or grist for some other post. And inevitably, I end the week with most of that material unused. But … more…
Fun for Wednesdays! We look at an image from an upcoming movie or TV show and write snarky, witty, or otherwise entertaining captions for it. No prizes, it’s just for fun. “Bob was the only known player of the bong horn”: The Weinstein Company tells us about the movie: Cheech and Chong’s Hey Watch This … more…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… I’ve seen this film twice now, and I am bursting to say all sorts of stuff about it, and I am forbidden from doing so under pain of death from The Weinstein Company. (Obviously, some other critics were either not threatened with torture, or figured they’d call … more…
Fred Topel yesterday at Sci Fi Wire pondered the Oscar chances of The Road, which could be a serious contender this year. In its favor: its grim subject matter, its awards-season debut, the powerful performances by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and its home at The Weinstein Company — where the folks are known for … more…
