Author: Michael Thomas

Ranking the Lynne Ramsay Films

Let the great Willow Maclay explain Lynne Ramsay to you:

“In the cinema of Lynne Ramsay, everyday life turns unfamiliar through the shockwaves of horror, grief, and death. Ramsay, with her astute inclination toward expressive visual detail, emphasizes the fallibility of human nature by reckoning with one of its core concerns: mortality. For her, there is no way to escape its looming rot. In her movies, the lead characters, often women, deal with catastrophic events — the death of a loved one, the drowning of a best friend, the aftermath of a school shooting — in their own strange, complicated ways. These people don’t have the answers to life’s greatest challenges, and Ramsay doesn’t expect them to unravel, by her movies’ ends, the profound mysteries of existence. Instead, she focuses on the internal processes required of those trying to move forward in the wake of horror. In her work, the scars from our past continually influence who we are today.”

 

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Ranking The Shield Seasons

It took me a long time to finally watch The Shield in full. A decade-plus ago I had dipped my toe in the waters but did not get in. I heard all the praise from all the credible sources. I knew I had to get to it. And I finally did this year. I am delighted to report that the show is as good as people say.

 

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Ranking the James Gunn DCU (Live-Action) Projects

I am not committing to watching all the animated slop coming down the pike. But I am pretty fascinated by what James Gunn is cooking up right now even if it’s not exactly been tailored to my tastes.

 

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Ranking the Paul Thomas Anderson Films

PT Anderson is one of the last real United States studio-backed filmmakers left. When his films come out, it is still something of an event – an all-too tragically rare thing these days. When looking back at his career, you can pretty neatly divided into two distinct halves. Before Blood, he made a lot of notable films very well, but in retrospect, they do not overall stand out as much. From Blood on though, he really found his own distinct voice and visual style and has just been off to the races ever since. Continue reading Ranking the Paul Thomas Anderson Films

Ranking the Alien Films (& Television Seasons)

 

The best franchise in the history of film! All of the films are were once good and all feel completely different from each other. Keep making them, Ridley. The evil Disney corporation needs to go back to letting Ridley make them. Here is a ranking of the supporting performances in the series.

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Ranking the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Seasons

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an iconic show that has been running for more than half of my life. It is a bit daunting to ever go back and watch a show that has been running for this long, but I finally committed after years of false starts. It was as good as I could have hoped for.

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Ranking the Ingmar Bergman Films

Films I Still Need to Watch: Face to Face, In the Presence of a Clown, Prison, Music in Darkness, It Rains on Our Love, Madame de Sade, This Can’t Happen Here, A Dream Play, The Image Makers, The Bacchae

Ingmar Bergman was one of the most consistently good directors in cinema history. For nearly sixty years, he cranked out good film after good film with a handful becoming iconic and very few being artistic failures. Diving into the Criterion box set was a long project but well worth it.

 

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