War, what is it good for, the song asks. Absolutely nothing? Perhaps. But back in the 1940s, it was a nearly essential response to depose an abomination and dismantle his fear machine. American forces quickly learned that other than boots on the ground and bombs in the air, one of the best ways to win…
This is not… US
Jordan Peele no doubt wants each of his artistic creations to stand on their own. They do. And they should. And yet. The Academy Award-winning behemoth that is Get Out will always be his benchmark. And rightfully so. That said, for his sophomore film, Us, as enjoyable as it is, is a tougher film to…
One Word Kill
Dungeons & Dragons was never cool. Fun? Totally. But the game cannot, and probably never will, rise above its stigmata of being a holy place for geeks, dweebs, nerds, and the Simpson’s Comic-Book Guy. Polo-shirt wearing drones need not apply. Thanks to Stranger Things, the game has regained some of its collective groove. A counter-culture…
Bearskin
Guys, and c’mon talking real men here, are similar to baseball. Guys need a task. A job to do. A solid win and pride in the task. That job gets too complex? Then you go into extra innings. Bearskin is a true man’s novel. Part crime thriller, part observational literature. Tactical. Contemplative. Silent. Compelling. You…
Triple Frontier
Stop me if you’ve heard this already. Batman, Poe Dameron, and King Arthur walk into a bar. They team-up to stop a vile drug lord and rob him along the way. Rather dynamic, right? Top flight action stars. Type-A leaders with machismo laced on each fiber of beard scruff. Good avenging evil and making a…
Velvet Buzzsaw
Nightcrawler was frightening and creepy. In that film, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a rogue videographer who caters his services to network head Renee Russo. Theirs is a relationship of use and abuse, and a partnership of drawing in money and building a rep. Nightcrawler is a film that prompts heavy conversation, or a shower, which makes…
’80s Teen Movies
Life moves pretty fast. Sage advice of a hallowed teen from the mid-1980’s, when Reaganomics’s voodoo charmed ideologies, a generation of kids were being raised at the shopping mall, and Huey told us to get back in time. Hollywood noticed these changes and, like John Bender piercing his ear in triumph, transformed pop-culture into the…
Roma
Forget Alfonso Cuarón’s smooth camera work and his technical attention and his ability to wreak havoc in the background while his foregrounds remain calm and focused. Instead, watch Roma and pay attention to Cuarón the photographer who can bring beauty and life to a million shades of gray. Filmed in a black-and-white palate that is…
Cage’s Mandy, not Manilow’s
The 2018 Panos Cosmatos film Mandy could very well have been released in 1978, directed by John Carpenter or Tobe Hooper, and, aside from Nic Cage’s Academy Award-winning visage, no one would be the wiser. Featuring a crazed cult, motorcycle-riding demons, over-saturated film stock, and, well, Nic Cage wielding a custom axe, Mandy is a…
