Blog
These stories have been around a long time. Some of them I have updated. Many of them I haven’t. This started out when blogs were like, new!
Turn About, About “Turn” (The AMC Series)
On the second season of Turn (on DVD): One wonders why there aren't more protections for people in the Revolutionary War series, Turn, as when the reprehensible Lt. John Simcoe (Samuel Roukin) is sent by the British army to take command of a group of punks but has no...
Let Me State This: “The Free State of Jones”
Not everything in the new Civil War movie, The Free State of Jones (2016), makes sense, but it is a worthwhile product. Lifted from history, it focuses on Confederate army deserters and runaway slaves, led by Matthew McConaughey's Newton Knight, who live for a long...
Post-Teen Angels: France’s “The Dreamlife of Angels”
The main characters in Erick Zonca's The Dreamlife of Angels (1998) are cheerful Isa (Elodie Bouchez) and frowning, self-absorbed Marie (Natacha Reguier), who form a brief friendship. Far more important to Marie than this friendship is her agonizing romance with...
Thieves Like Them: “They Live By Night”
There is an agreeable premise in Nicholas Ray's They Live by Night (1948): a young ex-con who robs a bank loves, and hits the road with, a saucy gal who knows better than to rob banks. Bowie (Farley Granger) wants the straight-and-narrow while on the lam, but ordeals...
Time To Write About The Film, “Jesus Camp,” Damn It!
The 2006 documentary Jesus Camp should have been a movie called The Religious Lives of Children---whose subject is exactly that---since that's partly what the film is, anyway. The religious lives of Christian children are in full swing here. Instead, what...
Rape In “Tape”? Linklater In 2001
Tape (2001) is a filmed play, and filmed wisely with rapid cutting, flash pans, and DV technology. The director is Richard Linklater, the playwright-scenarist Stephen Belber. All the action takes place in a single motel room in Lansing, Michigan, and there are only...
Ain’t Gonna Spurn “Love & Mercy”
These days there are more American films that are works of art than there used to be, though still not enough of them (especially good ones). One of them that is artistic---and good to boot---is Love & Mercy (2015), the humane biopic about Brian Wilson of the...
A Mini-Wave Comin’: The Film Noir, “Crime Wave”
Sterling Hayden does some deliciously authoritative acting in Andre de Toth's Crime Wave (1954). He plays a police detective, a man of some prejudice but mainly tough-mindedness and determination. Three thieves rob a filling station, but a passing cop puts a slug in...
A Sucker For “High School Musical”
High School Musical (2006), the popular Disney Channel production, isn't perfect, but its songs range from good to outstanding and mostly the latter, and they are performed with admirable prowess. Yes, Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay) overacts, but is a captivating singer...
