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Shivers

“The human anatomy, both from horror and sexual perspectives, and a major distrust of technology and societal permissiveness runs throughout David Cronenberg’s body of work. 1975’s Shivers was Cronenberg’s first feature-length film, and a preview of his oeuvre. Following the, uh, we’ll call t” read more

A Boy and His Dog

“A cult dystopian vision that takes the “boy and his dog” and wraps it up in black humor and crotch-minded salaciousness. I’m not sure if I enjoyed it, hated it, found it charming, or more quixotic in my estimation, but I know A Boy and His Dog is unlike anything else I’ve seen. Don Johnson i” read more

Death Race 2000

“If Rollerball is the intellectual vision of “blood sport as opiate for the masses,” then Death Race 2000 is the loopy grindhouse inversion of it. Not directed by Roger Corman but shepherded by him, Death Race 2000 is a vision of American life at its most nihilistic. Whatever political framework ” read more

Rollerball

“The nation state as we know it has fallen and there is only the mega-corporation that controls everything from entertainment to the political sphere. No, I’m not providing a generalized summary of Ned Beatty’s blistering monologue in Network, although the 70s had an eerily prescient vision of wh” read more

Dark Star

“Dan O’Bannon sure does love to reconfigure space travelers as truckers just doing their job. He gained cinematic immortality by taking that concept and grafting it to a haunted house in space structure in Alien, one of the 70s best science-fiction films from a decade filled with great science-fict” read more

Westworld

“The enduring appeal of Westworld can be summarized as thus: murderous cowboy robots. Does this ignore the other virtues that power Westworld? Yes, and I fully admit that it’s a bit of an opening joke to get things going.   Truth be told, Westworld endures because it’s fascinating, engaging, a” read more

Soylent Green

“When discussing his reaction to the film version of his book Make Room! Make Room!, author Harry Harrison described it as such: “murder and chase sequences [and] the ‘furniture’ girls are not what the film is about – and are completely irrelevant” and mentioned being only fifty percent sat” read more

The Omega Man

“Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend is a book that is nearly ready made for film adaptation. One that has been adapted three times, this is probably the most famous, and each somehow swinging and missing. The Omega Man makes the fatal mistake of requesting that the audience invest in Charlton Heston as” read more

No Blade of Grass

““It came from a brilliant book, but Cornel Wilde, God rest his soul, I don't think he did it justice when it came to the screenplay. He seemed to go over the top and get some bits of egg on his face.” – Wendy Richard   Cornel Wilde’s view of a global pandemic, this one a virus that dest” read more

The Two Popes

“A hagiographic portrait of the current pope that plays like something off PBS’ Great Performances, The Two Popes mistakes unnecessarily, often incongruous, camera flourishes with visual interest. The best argument for this movie is watching Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins deliver incredibly str” read more

Marriage Story

“There’s something of a tone problem with Marriage Story. Occupying a space that is nominally within raw melodrama, Marriage Story details a he said/she said back-and-forth that occasionally wanders into quirky comedy territory. It does eventually stick the landing but getting to that complicated e” read more

I Lost My Body

“I Lost My Body is an animated European art film if I’ve ever seen one. Is it good or bad? I’m not entirely sure, but it is very French. Literalizing the main character’s emotional disconnection by crafting the story from his disembodied hand, I Lost My Body is all about its main character’s ” read more

Toy Story 4

“Toy Story 4’s announcement was met with trepidation on my part. The prior trilogy of films was as perfect as a franchise could get, including a closure that recalled the very beginning. How many other trilogies managed to be successful picking up after so prolonged a breather? Disney/Pixar risked ” read more

Pain and Glory

“The aging director at the center of Pain and Glory may call himself Salvador Mallo, but one glance at the giant silhouette on the poster lets you know it’s really Pedro Almodóvar. Crafting one of his most personal and autobiographical works, Almodóvar reveals more of where his provocative worldv” read more

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

“Last year’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? was my introduction to Marielle Heller, and you can consider me a fan after the one-two punch of that movie and this one. She brings an eye that is both resolved and empathetic to stories that could easily transition into treacle in anyone else’s hands. After” read more

Harriet

“The only known portraits of Harriet Tubman are that of her in steely resolve in her old age, and they provide only a small glimpse of a towering figure. But this movie is not quite the addendum or correction to that incomplete vision. Not by a long shot.   Harriet removes Tubman’s numerous achi” read more