Todd Haynes is one of the great living American directors. Few people out there have as consistently captured the tragedy of the United States of America as well as he has done on the big screen.
Category: Film
Ranking the Park Chan-wook Films & Projects
Still to Watch: The Moon Is…the Sun’s Dream, Trio, I’m a Cyborg But That’s Ok, Stoker, The Little Drummer Girl.
Park Chan-wook mostly makes protest novels that vary in effectiveness and quality. His works explicitly take down the the systems that control the world by showing the impact it has on the people. While I rarely love his work, I am never bored by it.
Continue reading Ranking the Park Chan-wook Films & Projects
There Will Be Movies – Ep. 114: Challengers
What? You came for the three-way? Well it’s time for you to learn a little something about delayed gratification… and far more than you ever wanted to know about tennis! It’s a spicy one and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Plus 10 second review of Wake Up Dead Man!
Continue reading There Will Be Movies – Ep. 114: ChallengersRanking the Avatar Films
I am fascinated by James Cameron in many ways even if I do not care for his films all that much. Because he does not release films constantly, it is easy enough to drop in on what he is up to. His Avatar films are fascinating if nothing else even if they are distinctly Not For Me ultimately. Or as I have previously written, “I find Cameron a fascinating part of film history, and I am glad he exists. But he continuously makes impressive spectacles that I simply do not give a fuck about.” Here is what I think of them.
Ranking the James Cameron Films
Films Still Need to Watch (But will I bother? Unlikely): Piranha II: The Spawning
James Cameron mostly makes big spectacle films that I find compelling if not wholly satisfying. Here is how I rank them. Continue reading Ranking the James Cameron Films
Ranking the Spike Lee Films
Films Still to Rewatch: Jungle Fever
With Spike Lee, there is the style and there is the politics. That is not to say these things should (or even can) be not discussed together because they are interwoven. You need to discuss the what of Lee films along with the how. The what of Spike’s films are often what draw me to him. The politics cannot be separated, ignored, or coddled because in many ways Spike Lee films feel like essay films. They have a very specific point they are making – regardless of whether or not that this is the point Lee is trying to make.
Ranking the Coen Bros. Films
Films to Rewatch: Intolerable Cruelty
I have gone on a journey with the Coen Brothers throughout almost my entire life. I was introduced to (some of) their films at a very early (probably too early) age, and I have been watching them ever since. At one point though, I grew rather cold on them. I am not sure exactly, but I consistently found myself feeling “over” them when I attempted to watch anything by them. Then Adam Nayman’s book rekindled my interest in them, and I realized what elements of them I adore and which don’t hit.
There Will Be Movies – Ep. 113: I Saw the TV Glow
No need for an episode guide, because we’ve got you covered on how to understand a metaphor, what happened in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and how deeply broken our brains are when it comes to thinking about the logistics of television production.
Continue reading There Will Be Movies – Ep. 113: I Saw the TV GlowThere Will Be Movies – Ep. 112: Godzilla Minus One
A lizard this big demands special treatment so Matt hopped in a train to admire Ben’s premium Godzilla box-set in person. We’re talking kaijus. We’re talking Academy Awards. We’re talking Gokaiger. And we’re of course talking Science, B!tch.
Continue reading There Will Be Movies – Ep. 112: Godzilla Minus OneRanking the Noah Baumbach Films
Noah Baumbach has evolved over the last three decades into one of the best modern writer/directors in the United States. He knows his voice. He knows his lane. He knows what he knows. And he does it all very well.
The Reel World 