Classic Review

A review of an older, classic film. Most likely based upon multiple viewings.

The Knives Out and Glass Onion Double-Feature Film Review

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The “whodunit” style of mystery story has experienced a renaissance over the recent years with updated versions of the classic Agatha Christie stories like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile having reasonable success with audiences. More thriller-style mysteries like Gone Girl and Where the Crawdads Sing have been adapted from popular … Read more

“A Ghost Story” Ponders Time, Legacy, and the Meaning of Loss

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Writer-director David Lowery’s A Ghost Story is a contemplative tone poem on the vast expanses of time, captured in a single relationship between two people.  As the two main characters reach a turning point about where they are going to live, a car accident removes one of them from the equation – except that it … Read more

“The Dark Horse” Addresses Mental Health, Expectation, and Community

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The opening sequence of The Dark Horse depicts Genesis Potini wandering through the rain muttering to himself, intercut with his older brother teaching him the game of chess when they were both children.  He stops in a store with a few chessboards set up, and continues his frantic word salad as the shop owners look … Read more

“Rough Night” Packs Comedy, Filth, and the Macabre into a Bachelorette

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Lucia Aniello’s Rough Night is what happens when you let five raucous friends cut loose during a destination bachelorette party in Miami.  All the normal accoutrements are here:  beachfront rental property, alcohol-fueled bar crawls, penis-shaped everythings, cocaine, a shredded male stripper, and involuntary manslaughter.  Hmm, maybe things got out of hand somewhere . . .

Verhoeven and Huppert Combine to Tell a Singular Story of Feminine Strength in “Elle”

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Paul Verhoeven’s Elle opens with a blank screen and the sickening sounds of sexual assault.  The first image of the film is of a cat, casually witnessing the rape.  Only after this introduction does Verhoeven confront the audience with the actual struggle:  a man clad in dark clothing and a ski mask, dominating an older woman and having his way with her.  Once he is gone, we’re introduced to Michèle Leblanc (Isabelle Huppert) wordlessly; she picks herself up, straightens her clothing, cleans up some broken glass, and then takes a bath.  The blood floats up from between her legs to color the bubbles with a crimson wisp.

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Classic Review – Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)

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INTRODUCTION

In 1991, dozens of happy accidents converged into one of the greatest thrillers of all time:  The Silence of the Lambs.  It is the most recent film to win Academy Awards in all five of the major categories (both leading actors, screenplay, director, and best picture).  As that distinction may suggest, practically every aspect of the film boasts superlatives.  The performances are exceptional.  Ted Tally’s adaption of the screenplay structures the film with the familiar beats of the hero’s journey, but provides enough twists to keep us on edge.  Jonathan Demme’s direction shows restraint and courage, and produces moments rife with tension, many of which do not exist on the page.  The characters, technical work, and writing all cooperate towards a single goal:  championing a theme of female strength and intellect in a world dominated by men, and the courage that it takes to confront true evil.

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The Enchanting “Spirited Away” is Miyazaki’s Greatest Animated Film

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Today, words are exceedingly lightweight.  You can say whatever you like because words are as substantive as foam to us.  That’s no more than a reflection of how empty our reality has become.  And yet even now, the truth is that words are power.  It’s just that we’re meaninglessly drowning in a sea of powerless, vacuous words.

-Hayao Miyazaki, 1999 – Director’s notes for Spirited Away

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Classic Review – Antoine Fuqua’s “Training Day” (2001)

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To protect the sheep you gotta catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf.

– Det. Alonzo Harris

 

No fun when the rabbit has the gun, is it?

– Jake Hoyt

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Classic Review Friday – “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)

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In Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the eponymous high school student is always the smartest person in the room – even when he isn’t really there. Ferris’ presence is always felt as he and his friends masquerade around Chicago on a beautiful school day in May, intent to play the ultimate game of hooky. This loose narrative allows the film to play with its tonality, as various vignettes or scenarios play out that have little effect on the story other than re-affirming the brilliance of Ferris. In a sense, the film works as a farce focusing on this larger-than-life teenager, but along the way it manages to speak poignant truths with timeless importance.

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Classic Review Friday – John Dahl’s “Rounders” (1998)

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Widely touted as “The Best Poker Movie Ever Made”, Rounders barks the lingo of the degenerate gambler with a practiced fluency. The scenes spent at a poker table exemplify the emotional roller coaster that every lover of the game has experienced. But amid the bad beats, 3-outers, and pot splashing, the film offers something more meaningful than a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a high-stakes poker bout. Nestled between the turn and river cards, Rounders challenges the viewer with a pointed question: are you doing what you love to do, or are you doing what others think is best for you?

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