Reviews

Sharper is an old fashioned, film noir tale of people cheating each other out of money and femme fatales getting their way. Julianne Moore shines here (much more than in her lauded performance in May December) as someone who knows exactly what she is doing and has no qualms or conscience about it. Sebastian Stan and new comer Justice Smith are the other men in her life, but who exactly are they to her and who can be trusted? Also there's supporting performance from John Lithgow, who seems to be popping up in all the prestige movies this year.

Every time you think you know what's happening in Sharper, it turns out you don't. The fact that it manages to mix in multiple love stories and makes you care about these characters is just part of the fun. Brianna Middleton plays Sandra, who comes into Tom's life and is the perhaps the only one who really cares about him. But every character has motivations of their own, and person can have a reason for doing something with ulterior motives and not necessarily be a bad person. Not black and white....these lives are always shades of gray. They sure don't make them like they use to make them good like this sometimes anymore.

The most loveable movie of the year. Finally, another true classic Christmas movie that holds up on its own as well. Luckily here, old fashioned does not mean dull and really it hardly means old- Paul Giamatti carries the title role as Paul Hunham in yet another movie about a college professor (trend this year?) who is under appreciated in his work and his skill set. Dominic Sessa plays Angus in his very first movie role shines as one of his students, a lost child whose parents have better things to do on their Christmas then spend time with him and he is able to illicit sympathy from us even though at first he appears to be a spoiled little rich kid. They get stranded together over the Xmas holiday at the boarding school where neither wants to be there, and balancing out the trio is Da'vine Joy Randolph's chef Mary who recently lost her son in the army and definitely still has some rage about that.

So they all riff off each other and help each other on a unplanned trip to Boston, but Alexander Payne directs it as someone who really knows how to do reveals about characters at the right time, and here he has created just about a perfect script- an original story at that. The Holdovers is a movie that surprised me and even if you know where its going, it is a pitch perfect story where all the right things fall into place. For a movie with three great stand out acting performances, it also has great background characters- think about the group of classmates Sessa has at the beginning and how they relate to each other- they are not really 'friends' but people stuck together in a boarding school class. Think about all of the teachers, including the one Paul obviously has a crush on and how that scenario plays it self out. I loved this movie the more I thought about it, and despite the familiar subject matter I do think it is actually Alexander Payne's best movie, screenplay, and best acted especially by Giamatti (who I hope wins the OSCAR.

Ava DuVernay is an amazing director, and she has found a project worth her ambitions once again with her latest film. Her previous feature - the adaptation of the nearly impossible to adapt book A Wrinkle in Time (2018)- was ambitious though maybe not a complete work, however she showed what she could do with a larger budget. But honestly she always excels on the more intimate story, with a subject closer to her heart. Her early indie Middle of Nowhere (2012) I have talked about in length before, while her breakout movie Selma (2014) about the MLK Selma march which remains an underrate classic by many. With Origin she combines everything she does well- the hard to adapt book (Caste from 2020 which was best seller on the New York Times list for a while) and matching with sensibilities that remain close to her heart- make this a truly one of a kind movie going experience.

Her work on documentary The 13th (2017) finds a master experience that blends with this story about combining the history of slavery with the treatment of Jewish people in WW2 and the current caste system in India and other similar countries. Stated many times in the movie but always with good reason, main character Isabel Wilkerson (Ellis-Taylor) channels the director by stating slavery of African Americans was more about ones place in a class/Caste system than race, and the parallels she draws make this plain to see even though it is a difficult subject to broach. Performance by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Jon Bernthal make this a very poignant romance on top of telling and important story and her character Isabel suffers family loss after loss trying to adapt the book. Some have accused the movie of being too didactic, but I find it extremely well made and not only entertaining but powerful and life-altering. The fact that it got nominated for zerooooo major awards means Duvernay is coloring outside the lines for sure in the way she makes movies, making her one of the most interesting directors of our time.

Memory is my favorite of Michel Franco's directed films and honestly my favorite movie of 2023 overall. It gets everything right about the nuances of dealing with people who have had trauma in their past (Jessica Chastain) and trauma in their current life (Peter Sarsgaard) that keeps them from being the complete people they want to be. To say trauma might be an understatement for what these characters have been though, and together they might actually be the only ones who are able to heal each other. The story is full of twists and surprises and i really did not know what to expect next, I rarely say this but don't read spoilers on this one as its quite good with all the reveals.

Though it has a short 1 hour and 40 minute running lime, it is a perfect length and never drags; it feels truly lived in and real. All the cinematography is invisible and the settings they use to create the atmosphere and climates of the characters are perfect to match. Supporting cast is perfect, everyone gives 'just enough to make it a true ensemble: Merrit Wever is perfectly cast as Sylvia's sister, who always supports her despite her strange (to most people around her) behavior; her mother played by Jessica Harper is the exact opposite. Brooke Timber as the daughter Anna has a more subtle role to play, slowly realizing the depth of her mother's trauma. Where so many other movies of the year try to have this kind of out-there style, excess running times, and flashy storytelling and sublime meaning, Franco makes a movie that tells a simple story and gives us all hope for humanity. It is a reminder that sometimes all you need is a well told, well-acted, well directed movie to make the biggest emotional impact.

This is a show about people that mean well but can't seem to get their lives together. They are all cooks in a kitchen in a family restaurant in the middle of Chicago, they have to work together to succeed, and none of them get along with each other for more than 5 minutes. Carmen (Jeremy Allen White) has inherited the place from his recently deceased brother who he was on bad terms with, and he has to deal with his brother's best friend Richie (Ebo Moss-Bacharch) hanging around and always stirring up trouble while his biggest prospect chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) tries to be perfect and is perhaps too ambitious for him. Throw in Uncle Jimmy (Oilver Platt) as a sort of local loan-shark type who was friendly with Carmen's brother and is wondering what happened to the 100 grand he loaned him, sister Sugar (Abby Elliot) to whom he has years of apologies, and Jon Bernthal in flashback's as the deceased brother and you have an amazing ensemble cast that can bounce of each other just like the best chef's in the best local diners.

What makes this show so amazing is its kinetic energy, the feeling that anything could happen at any minute and how everyone is so wrapped up in their own world, perhaps too much to see anything beyond their own perspective. The cramped little kitchen everyone works in feels huge and expansive, like each moment for each dinner counts even though the time and energy they put into crafting perfect food is gone as soon as somebody eats it. There is beauty in the small dishes just like there is beauty in every part of life even if it only lasts a day. The dialogue reminds be of the best Kevin Smith, very particular and it works because of the body language of the actors and the way it is told. It is super stressful to watch at times, as everyone reaches their absolute boiling point of anger every episode it seems, but as hopeless as the characters say they are we can tell they were put in these positions for a reason, that as long as they can keep going things will work out. Raw emotions, like as raw as the sun. It's a show still finding out what it is, but its already pretty great.

Severence touches a nerve with our society because we can sympathize with the parts of people displayed as "half-there". In this original show directed by Ben Stiller, their mind is split somehow so when these people work their office /cubical jobs, the half of them that works does not remember their outside of work life, and vise versa. The actors involved (Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Jon Turutrro, Christopher Walken) are great an playing their roles as basically drones in an office where all the lights are florescent, all bathroom breaks have to be accounted for, and it feels like there is no way out.

If this all seems bleak well, it is, but its also full of plot twists and joyful expressions and the idea that when we are two people we are not our full selves. People will soon meet that have met before, but these versions of themselves have not met before. These people that have become severed are in fact different people, and the left brain/ right brain thoughts are full of infinite possibilities. Will these enslaved minds break free? That's what we hope for and root for throughout, seeminglymundane struggles of sneaking around locked doors and hallways become tense beyond belief. Some of the main lives (that must spend a lot of time just sleeping when you think about it) or "outties" as they are known are the ones living a real life on the outside world. These outties are not good or bad per se, they just needed break from thr routine of work. There isn't a person alive that can't sympathize with that. The twists and turns and suspense that build up are what make the show worth watching, and I can only guess what puzzle season 2 will hold.

Hacks is one of the most consistent and funny shows on TV, with an amazing idea for a premise and all-star writers that make it work. After Broad City ended, Paul W Downs created this show with Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky with an intention of making something that had the feel of an old-fashioned classic casting Jean Smart in what might be the performance of her long and amazing career. She plays Debra Vance as a version of herself, a loud and abrasive comedian with quite a temper but a real knack for reinventing career that would make sense in the 2020's. Tie that together in with Hannah Einbinder as Ava, a Generation Z bisexual writer that she tries to mentor in the most verbally abusive way possible. Its comedy gold, and the over-arching story of Ava constantly accidently insulting Debra serves as a nice framework and proposes a little bit of drama at times to see if their relationship will continue. Like being in a band, they may not get along as people but the writing/delivery really works and wows the nation.

But it's the jokes mainly that work, the hilarious assistant of Jimmy, Kayla (Megan Stalter is a genius as idiot the spoiled daughter of the head of the firm) and her crush on Jimmy (Downs also acts as both ladies' agent), her dad pushing for marriage even though Jimmy can't stand her, the minor stops on the bus-riding world tour in the gas station where Debra meets some of her adoring fans and how she fails to connect for them even as she writes her new act specifically for them. There is a stop for a tarot card reading where Ava cannot believe in the fantastical, a revealing email she wrote about Debra also got published. Ava has quite the good timing as a writer on the show for Debra; though she has quite the guilty conscience about doing what is right for herself and her career. She constantly uses Smart phones and cameras and recordings on them; are they too important in our lives and/or do they ruin comedy? Carl Clemons is great as Marcus, Debra's assistant as liaison between Ava and Debra, as his own personal life is well thought out just like every aspect of Hacks it's touching at times but also funny.

The idea of What is funny these days and styles of comedy among aging comedians and people dealing with an age gap has been the premise of many great shows throughout time: I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, Mary Tyler Moore, The Office, you name it. Every frame of Hacks is constantly in motion, every scene is edited perfectly and most importantly every joke is snappy and timed exactly right. Hacks could probably end after season 2 and it might be perfect...but I still want more. Will they pull the great comedy trick of leaving us wanting more?

Ad Astra is a wonder to watch and it's a movie that tells you it's intensions right from the start, then fulfills them in a genius way. For me personally, it was the first new movie I saw after a long hiatus from being able to go to a theater and watch a movie, and I'll admit it was still a relativily physically painful experience to sit in a chair and watch it, so it meant everything to me that was worth my time and THEN some! It is the kind of movie the theaters were made for, a beautiful mix of what came before from the fantastical journeys of Apocalypse Now and Intersteller to the personal relationtionship family dramas of director James Grey himself. Its like Grey had been leading up to this movie his entire career. Brad Pitt has had quite a year, for an actor of 55 years of age. He also had an amazing Quentin Tarantino movie several months prior to this one. His muted but focused performance here is a culmination of his whole career, something quite different for him but also very natural. His quest to find his father (played by Tommy Lee Jones) leads him to make decisions that endanger lives and the fate of planet Earth itself. It begs the question, are we destined to become what we fear the most? How much of our life is pre-determined and how much is purely genetics? Are we driven mainly by fear or by the design to do what is right? I'm not sure why some people have had an adverse reaction to Ad Astra, but Ifound it the perfect mix of contemplative and mesmerizing. It enthralled me the entire time and I was never bored. I was experiencing the aftermath of a painful surgery when I saw it in theaters, so maybe that made me appreciate Pitt's character's yearning to cross the galaxy to find his father even more? For whatever reason, the journey to Neptune and beyond made me think about my entire life and existence, and there are so many layers and surprises in this movie I will not discuss the plot more. But , I cannot wait to watch this movie a second time because I know for a fact (I watch wayyyy to many movies for sure) that few movies get things this perfect. Ad Astra is a poem to the universe made by human beings who are not afraid too wander the stars.

Luce is one of the most interesting and timely movies made this decade, which is why even though it just came out I am putting it high on my list. Is it about about a white couple adopting a war-torn African child and the way that child is raised via the impact of his younger upbringings effect? Yes. Is it about the expectations and levels people go to to seek glory and praise in a high school setting? Yes. But these are just minor plot details to get at what Luce is really about: expectations. Shining a light for the world to see while also fitting in is what the lead character struggles with. If that makes him a monster for doing what he thinks is right and how will that effect his "bright future"- these are the issues at the center of this stage play turned movie.

So many great plays are turned into movies and not much is changed at all, but Luce is one of the more cinematic transformations I have seen. There are multiple settings and places involved, phone texting and internet connections play a huge role, and the cinematic qualities matter so much I would believe those that say they didn't even know it was a play I would not be surprised. As soon as I watched Luce, which just came out on streaming last week after a limited theatrical release, I wanted to watch it again, because it boasts a mystery that's constantly changes course AND because it is about so much more than it initially lets on. What does it means to have a family, but also the lack the connection that exists within?

Octavia Spencer exhudes a certain domineering presence like she never has before, Tim Roth and Naomi Watts brings a great chemistry as Luce's parents and as one of cinemas best male/female teams, and newcomer Kelvin Harrison shines as Luce, a lead actor so complex that you can like him and dislike him simultaneously but always see where he is coming from. The screenwriters know these characters inside and out, and the questions this film asks are not comfortable in our current society but should always, always be asked, lest we forget where we are headed if we aren't careful.

Its easy to think and ponder about the direction Luce goes in. Each conversation is a battle, a moral argument, and much food for thought. It is an endlessly rewatchable movie that would also work as an audio only book. The dialogue, in both senses of the word, is riveting.

Diane is a very moving portrayal of a 70 year old woman who takes care of everyone, from her older parents and cousins to her 30 something son (Jake Lacy) strung out on drugs. It is interesting and all too rare to see such a giving portrayal of a human being who is far from perfect, but tries so hard to be. As the film jumps through time we see the results of her efforts but are also confronted with things she cannot change, as people in the end are always going to fall back to what their true nature is.

The movie is directed by Kent Jones, a film critic and long time supporter of character actors like Mary Kay Place, who plays Diane almost too knowingly. The movie is full of only character actors, and so becomes a study of what it means to be a person who is often forgotten and over looked in our lives. Some actors start off in small roles and grow to become movie stars, recent examples might be Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell, Taraji Henson to name a few....but so many actors become people that we look at and say: "hey I know that persons face, but what's their name again?" Diane is an example of what it's like to be a caregiver in life, and a caregiver in acting. It is a film that I wouldnt call "happy" but I would call life affirming, with a really nice ending. Movies that truly mean something and portray ordinary people well are all too rare.

I enjoyed the movie as well, its a nice update on the old story as i love the Judy Garland one. Story is depressing as ever, maybe more. I wish it would have been a more pointed attack on pop music as a whole, as it is hinted at but not really fully destroyed (i guess with Lady Gaga as lead the movie can only go so far.) I thought Cooper was amazing as an actor, and pretty much nailed the self-destructive alcoholic musician persona. Gaga held her own, though she was a little stiff in some scenes and im not quite as in love with her as some people are. Ending seemed sort of rushed, but i loved Sam Elliot. in all, worth a trip to the theater just prepare your self for some emotional trauma. 7 out of 10

Billy on the Street is such a great show, it makes me laugh HARDER than any other show i have ever seen. Billy's personality is great, he respects his smart guests and makes fun of his ignorant ones (albeit in ways they are comfortable with). His goal is to be funny but also to raise the intelligence of the viewer and educate people about good vs bad pop culture. If you are up on good tv shows, movies, music, celebs that actually matter, you will love this show. Also, he runs up on people and quizzes them in the face! I would of anything to be on this show

Above all, this is a movie that captures a specific time and place with uncanny precision. It is a story that takes place over a couple weeks, but defines an entire way of life for certain poor people in the country, in this case in the hotels of Orlando, Florida. That the movie is told from the perspective of a child for the majority of the run-time is special as well (Brooklyn Prince is the leading actress performance of the year in my opinion), and this is no adorable story: it is a child doing what children do like spitting on cars, starting fires, and questioning everything. It is a good idea that other characters are followed as well to give the movie more depth, especially the landlord Willem Dafoe and the despicable mother plated by Bria Vinatie, but not all characters are likable, and everything is portrayed with the realism of a documentary. The ending of the movie has been much debated, but it is the best crescendo of the year in my opinion and the film carries you every step of the way.

There are some movies that are too real and powerful for the Oscars, containing subjects that are taboo. Last year it was Nocturnal Animals, and this year the honor goes to Wind River, which is a drama that never lets up. It is about the persecution of Native American people, in particular the abuse and rape of the women in their culture. Sure the men can't escape and often get imprisoned, but the women mainly end up dead. As Jeremy Renner and Elisabeth Olsen's character's try to navigate the landscape, they are constantly reminded that they will always be outsiders, no matter how much they try to help. Evening the scales and helping drive out the oppressors is a nice idea, but it is far too late as the Native American people are all but extinct. While a movie like Get Out finds a humor in the situation in being a minority, Wind River presents it as unflinching truth. It is a movie that will rip out your heart.

Vince Vaughn keeps growing as a dramatic actor and excels in the role as a man who is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He does everything right but is surrounded by incompetence and takes out his rage on peoples FACES. Seriously, there is more smashing of people's faces in this movie than any other film I have ever seen. Vaughn doesn't just punch people in the face, he gouges eyes, brakes off noses, and flattens countenances. That being said, if an old grindhouse prison action drama doesn't sound like your thing, your correct and you won't like this movie. But if you are up for a challenge to your expectations, this movie is perfectly made and may just surprise you as a great example of its genre.

I love that a movie released in February is still dominating the conversation when it comes to best movies of the year. The tightrope the movie walks between racism and liberal guilt is impressive, and it makes the more supernatural aspects more believable. Personally, I love the attack on smug attitude of the rich and powerful, as well as I jump for joy as more original stories like this one come to light. The special effects used in the "sunken place" are like nothing I have ever seen in a mainstream Hollywood movie. It may not be a perfect movie, but it is perfectly rabid and full of ideas that it is unafraid to throw at the audience, and in a way that is more respectable than being formally perfect. That so many people of all races find something to love about this movie reveals much about America in 2017.....i'm sure there are many essays that could/ will be written about it.

I walked in to the movie not knowing much about it, but the popular opinion that it is a "good film" more than a "fun cartoon" is the correct one. This is not a movie made for 5 year-olds, as Coco is one of the most brutal attacks on the audiences' emotions Pixar has ever perpetrated. In fact, I think this movie is too devastating for younger viewers, who don't wish their hopes and dreams destroyed. The harsh reality, murders, child abuse and death that this movie is obsessed with is great for those of us with a mccabe sense of humor, but I am surprised that this bizarre movie found an audience at all. Bring it on, I say! It's easily the best Pixar movie since 2006's Ratatouille.

This is a movie that presents itself as one kind of story but quickly becomes something else entirely. The film spends more times with the parents' bonding and acceptance of the main character than really with the main couples turmoil. It's also about working at a comedy club, a past time I am somewhat familiar with. The struggle to survive in the face of adversity, whether it be on stage or in the face of potential in-laws, is what the movie is actually about. And to face the biggest sick of all, intolerance, it takes a defense mechanism triggered by humor. Holly Hunter should have been nominated for best supporting actress, no question.

Going to see a movie about Tonya Harding was not something I ever planned on doing, but I will watch anything Craig Gillespie directs, as his movies have a way of making impossible situations believable as plausible tales (see 2007's Lars and the Real Girl or the underrated The Finest Hour). Harding becomes a victim of her own gullibility, thinking it only takes talent and hard work to succeed in the world and that not playing politics will not matter. When other people around her act out on her behalf, well....we all know what happened in the 90's figure skating competitions! We lived it as a country, and finally this tale of a true underdog can be told. Margot Robbie is a force to be reckoned with for sure, if she wasn't before.

I don't read a lot about movies before I go see them, as sometimes even the plot synopsis gives too much away. This played to my favor in watch this Oscar nominated foreign movie from Chile, about a transgender woman trying to reclaims her inheritance when her boyfriend passes away from the family that never accepted her. It is the blackest of black comedies, interrupted by surreal dream like footage until one is left wondering which events are real and which are just symbols of oppression hurled at our main character. A great story and somewhat of a mystery at its core, the film is a joy to behold. Transgender actress Daniela Vega makes you feel her harsh reality in every scene.

Making a good movie about the making of a horrible movie has got to be harder than it seems, and Franco does a great job of playing the title of character as a man who is passionate about his horrible ideas. IT is as good as Tim Burton's 1994 film Ed Wood, in that respect. On one level it proves that if someone has enough money they can get anything done, but on a deeper level the movie is about achieving ones dreams no matter what anyone else thinks. Franco's performance as a misunderstood artist resonates with us now and into the future.....for reasons he probably did not predict it would.

A lot of people had written Shyamalan off as a director that would only do awful movies since he had been stuck in a rut for the majority of the 21st century, but these people forgot that only the good you do that matters (have you ever watched Alfred Hitchcock's bad movies? Dear god!). While 2015's The Visit returned him as a director that's a force to be reckoned with, with Split he got even better, giving us perhaps his greatest movie yet. James McAvoy may get overlooked by the Oscars for his multilayered performance, but those that pay attention know how hard it really is to pull a multiple personality disorder off and have it not be laughable.

Logan is a superhero movie on the surface, but a Western movie at heart. It brings the kinds of stories that are already present in comic books of the last 60 years to the screen in ways that are accessible to people who don't already know them, but even BETTER for those of us who have this kind of character memorized. In the actual comic-book story of Logan's fight with The Reavers, he gets crucified and left for dead; too much? Most importantly, this is the closest to the actual character of Wolverine the movies are ever likely to give us, so it deserves to be listed among the top movies of the year.