American history features racism and Tyler Perry turns a true story into The Six Triple Eight, in which Kerry Washington saves the mail service and the world. –January 31, 2025
Tag: Entertaining – Well-Made
Some Kind of Wonderful
Some Kind of Wonderful presents cheerful 20-somethings as high school seniors, andit rests on whether a tomboy is good company. –November 30, 2024
Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls is a brilliant tour of Black artistry from the early 1960s through the mid-1980s. Terrific design. Wonderful songs. And Eddie Murphy steals each scene like the star he is. –October 31, 2024
30 Days of Night
I like vampire stories, and 30 Days of Night centers on blood sprayed across snow. –October 31, 2024
Little Miss Sunshine
A showcase for situational dysfunction, Little Miss Sunshine is a comic masterpiece. –September 30, 2024
American Fiction
Take 1: Stereotypes sell, and American Fiction explores Black American stereotypes of upper middle-class life. It’s funny, human, and centrally about how to create art. Take 2: American Fiction is about an academic withering away in pursuit of his art, only to discover the world doesn’t want big ideas anymore, kind of like this roundup from an academic… Continue reading American Fiction
Inside Man
A heist story with a trick ending, Inside Man is among Spike Lee’s whitest movies, and it works best because Denzel Washington dazzles in the long shadow of 9/11. –August 31, 2024
Don’t Look Up
Leo and J Law headline Don’t Look Up, a satire of American values and celebrity culture that starts with an asteroid hurtling towards Earth. See Meryl Streep’s body double naked, too! –August 31, 2024
Mulan
Animated Mulan is better than live-action Mulan because, “I’ll make a man out of you.” –April 30, 2024
The Holdovers
It’s Christmas 1970, and The Holdovers showcases Paul Giamatti as a boarding school teacher with a soft spot for a cook (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and a boy who can’t go home for the holidays. Heady, wonderful stuff. –December 31, 2023
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Steve Carell was “just” a TV star. Then he made The 40-Year-Old Virgin with Judd Apatow’s gang of misfit geniuses to become a big screen sensation. The waxing scene makes me pee. –November 30, 2023
Joy Ride
Joy Ride is filthy and brilliant. –October 31, 2023
Turn Me On, Goddammit!
Turn Me On, Goddammit! explores teen ennui from a girl’s point-of-view. Outstanding. –October 31, 2023
In a World…
In a World… is a Hollywood in-joke about patriarchal assumption. It’s also quite funny and worth seeing because legions of people make the entertainment we enjoy without thinking about who makes what. –September 30, 2023
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is a satisfying work about aging courageously despite the pressure to conform. Plus, the year 1970 looks terrific in the sets, costumes, and props. –September 30, 2023
Four Weddings and Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is Hugh Grant’s star-turn because of his misfit group of besties that resemble your friends. –September 30, 2023
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl showcases Johnny Depp’s effete Jack Sparrow who makes this bloated VFX vehicle startlingly fun. –April 30, 2023
Kill Boksoon
In Kill Boksoon, a John Wick-adjacent South Korean female assassin “pre-sees” outcomes for each violent encounter she initiates. Wholesome bloodshed, through and through. –April 30, 2023
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street affirms that sexually active high schoolers should die. –April 30, 2023
Hansan: Rising Dragon
The middle part of a trilogy, Hansan: Rising Dragon is the backstory of Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin, circa 1592, who defeats a Japanese invasion in terrific naval battles. –April 30, 2023
Top Gun: Maverick
Tom Cruise locks into a “whatever happened to so and so?” storyline with Top Gun: Maverick, which satisfies for 90 minutes before descending into CGI silly. –March 31, 2023
Avatar: The Way of Water
When a boy joy rides with a whale in Avatar: The Way of Water, as seen in 3-D, it’s the best cinematic experience of 2022. But the movie suffers from being the first of several sequels that have been promoted for years. –December 31, 2022
Friday Night Lights
Friday Night Lights describes the cult of sporting manhood that I desired to be part of what but never was. –December 31, 2022
Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands charms because it celebrates the emotional experience of young love while never once pressuring us to accept on-screen realism. –December 31, 2022
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Take 1: It takes a long time to conclude, but the nearly four hours-long extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King remains satisfying almost a generation later. Take 2: In Return of the King, Samwise Gamgee proves his worth (again) before returning to the hillside community of Hobbits where he truly belongs. –December… Continue reading The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
LOTR: The Two Towers rises in my esteem every time I re-watch it, but it’s really the story of how desperation makes procrastinators do their homework. –November 30, 2022
The Bourne Supremacy
The Bourne Supremacy pushes Matt Damon into ethical sophistication because his titular assassin decides not to kill again right after he first kills. –September 30, 2022
A Very Long Engagement
When Audrey Tautou’s fiancé doesn’t come back from WWI, she extends A Very Long Engagement to find him. Excellent work, most of all as we watch her collect testimony about her lover’s experiences that give her life meaning. –August 31, 2022
Prey
Prey has a Comanche woman hunting a Predator because alien trophy-takers aren’t welcome in the Great Plains of 1719. It’s terrific. –August 31, 2022
The Admiral: Roaring Currents
The Admiral: Roaring Currents re-enacts Thermopylae with Korean defenders facing a giant Japanese navy. It pleases on par with Braveheart and drowns a fleet of sailors. –August 31, 2022
13 Going on 30
I ignored both Bennifer 1.0 and Bennifer 2.0. Now, with Bennifer 1.5, I watched 13 Going on 30, which is way better than I anticipated since Jennifer Garner brings it hard alongside Mark Ruffalo back when he was “just” a man and not a CGI IP. –July 31, 2022
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Tommy Cruise is back for this first part of a better trilogy than his earlier efforts. The point: save the world. Why? There’s a villain? How? Run. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. –June 30, 2022
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
When there’s something strange, in the neighborhood, who do you call? Bad Guy Busters! Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, wherein Tommy Cruise attends the opera to stop a terror cell, Ving Rhames stares at his laptop, and Alec Baldwin plays the Director of the CIA. –June 30, 2022
Train to Busan
A neglectful Snowpiercer Dad faces World War Z monsters. Train to Busan isn’t very original, but it is a good ride, so long as you accept that zombies can’t open doors. –August 31, 2021
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Watching Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut in honor of the recently deceased filmmaker, I thought about how benign the Reevesian hero really is with all that longing for Lois Lane. –July 31, 2021
Shadow of the Vampire
Take 1: Nosferatu is a big deal. Malkovich and Dafoe are big deals, too. Roll them together in a behind-the-curtain story of how movies get made, and Shadow of the Vampire describes the necessary sacrifices of making great art. Take 2: From “The Hi-Lo Bro Show” podcast: “This is the one where Richard pines for a Sears catalog… Continue reading Shadow of the Vampire
In the Heights
In the Heights hits hard when Jimmy Smits conceals professional setbacks because he wants his daughter to succeed at Stanford. –July 31, 2022
The Muppets
Striking just the right note of fan service, The Muppets features Amy Adams and Jason Segel doing yeoman’s work to help Henson’s “children” stay relevant in the 21st century. Wait for “Man or Muppet” to bring the house down. –May 31, 2021
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Taika Waititi tells a delightful story of how a delinquent Maori orphan meets Dr. Alan Grant in a dinosaur-free paddock of Jurassic Park so they can go on a Hunt for the Wilderpeople. –April 30, 2021
Sense and Sensibility
Keep the tissues close during Sense and Sensibility and peak for Elinor Dashwood breaking down in front of her long-sought love. “My heart is, and always will be, yours,” Edward Ferrars says to her, and I’m still smiling. –January 31, 2021
Pride & Prejudice
Take 1: Stepping from shadow, he says, “You have bewitched me, body and soul.” Yes, yes, you have, Mr. Darcy, and that’s why Pride & Prejudice ascends to a level of happy-brilliant. Take 2: Once more to the world of Jane Austen. Once more I’m captivated by Pride & Prejudice. –November 30, 2023
The Omega Man
Take 1: When mixing this potent, early ’70s brew, add Blaxploition, pulpy sci-fi, miscegenation and Civil Rights, a slurry of post-Manson cultism, zombies, plague, and a pinch of LA riots, and you’ve got Charlton Heston as The Omega Man. Take 2: From “The Hi-Lo Bro Show” podcast: “This is the one where three men galivant through… Continue reading The Omega Man
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is a Narnia 2024 PAC, featuring Aslan for President, Queen Lucy for VP, Mr. Tumnus as head of the DoD, and the White Witch as head of State. –November 30, 2020
The Old Guard
Take 1: Two gay crusaders, a marine, and a Freud cosplayer follow Hera’s kid sister, whacking baddies until Zuckerberg tries monetizing their boogers. The Old Guard: not your parents’ action movie. Take 2: Seeing The Old Guard in a theater, rather than on my TV, means diminishing returns, although I remain a fan of women warriors violently dispatching… Continue reading The Old Guard
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Take 1: Rogue One is the origin story for the opening scrawl of A New Hope. Meaning: Lucas wrote away from the need for including this exercise in very skillful digiscapism, and that was back in the early 1970s. Take 2: Rogue One is the best American War in Vietnam movie since Rambo: First Blood Part II.… Continue reading Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
My Life as a Zucchini
Take 1: My Life as a Zucchini follows an animated orphan who suffers from guilt after accidentally killing his mother. And it’s wonderful. Take 2: My Life as a Zucchini is about animated, clay figurine orphans. Most character noses resemble male genitalia. –April 30, 2024
Inception
Enter the Mal-verse with Inception: or, How Leo Got His Groove Back. HINT: because Gordon-Levitt, Cotillard, Watanabe, and Hardy chew scenery. –May 31, 2020
Men in Black
Much better after a 20-year gap, Men in Black reminds me why Will Smith became a star and why Tommy Lee Jones is terrific. –May 31, 2020
The Cotton Club Encore
Cotton Club Encore has direct address songs and stunning reconstructions of period costume, props, sets, and racial customs. Too bad people in 1984 didn’t get the benefit of the Encore improvements (2017) that make this lesser Coppola flick into something worthwhile. –December 31, 2019
Hustlers
Take 1: Goodfellas meets Adam & Eve in Hustlers, wherein nearly naked beautiful women remain beautiful and exploited, whether they work for themselves or not. It may be feminism with Jennifer Lopez as a showstopping fitness athlete, but the best part is watching Usher make it rain. Take 2: Near-nude women get you in the door to Hustlers.… Continue reading Hustlers
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Take 1: Little Tommy Cruise does it again: Mission: Impossible – Fallout is a marvel of brilliant stunt work, action, violence, and big screen excitement. Early fun is had in a men’s room with Henry “hubba-hubba” Cavill. And Alec Baldwin dies, too! Take 2: God bless the stunt coordinators: Mission: Impossible – Fallout satisfies because T. Cruise (the fast… Continue reading Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Coco
Finally got around to Coco. No matter how hard I tried to resist, Pixar made me cry. –June 30, 2019
Captain America: The First Avenger
Tommy Lee Jones can do no wrong and Chris Evans is handsome. Like, when you look up “handsome” in the dictionary, you see Captain American: The First Avenger. –May 31, 2019
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Spider-Verse looks really terrific. I never tire of Jake Johnson’s slacker-dude and I like Black-centric anything. But shouldn’t the Oscar winner for Animated Feature be better than this? –May 31, 2019
Monsters University
Unlike my college experience, the characters in Monsters University learn a practical skill. –March 31, 2019
How to Train Your Dragon 2
In How to Train Your Dragon 2 the boy, Hiccup, advances his symbiotic relationship with a dragon, Toothless, because he’s missing a foot and the dragon’s missing a tail fin. They fight the voice of Djimon Hounsou because we don’t have enough Black villains in movies. –March 31, 2019
Holy Flame of the Martial World
Holy Flame of the Martial World is off-the-hook. Martial artists do battle with “ghostly laugh” and swords and fists through outrageously silly action choreography that papers the cracks of a vengeance plot. No cartoon is this satisfying. –March 31, 2019
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is terrifically beautiful and conclusive. But the dragon preserve beneath the ocean would collapse the world of humans and cause massive global extinction. –March 31, 2019
Jason and the Argonauts
Greek myths have it all: homoeroticism, swords, monsters, lessons, and cool names (Apollo, anyone?). Jason and the Argonauts also has Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion skeletons. –December 31, 2018
Courage Under Fire
“Oh, great. Great. The captain’s crying.” Film studies teachers point out how moviemakers make movies. We do this in the hope of helping our students recognize that what seems obvious and clear is the result of careful design and planning, and a whole lot of steady effort that is anything but “natural.” We often spend… Continue reading Courage Under Fire
In Bruges
“What’s Belgium famous for? Chocolates and child abuse, and they only invented the chocolates to get to the kids.” Movie violence is often funny, as in the accidental killing of an unimportant character, and profane dialogue frequently rises to great poetry, particularly because the F-word is useful in every grammatical mixture imaginable. Combine these two… Continue reading In Bruges
Red Dawn
Shout “Wolverines!” among people of a certain age and their eyes roll back, thinking about Swayze in snow camouflage. See Red Dawn for Reagan era zeitgeist and then enjoy a mug of deer blood. –August 30, 2018
A Quiet Place
Take 1: A Quiet Place is the one where a husband uses his children and pregnant wife to attract monsters, like a fisherman trolling for game fish, aka date night in the household of Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. Take 2: A Quiet Place is a father/daughter tale of surviving alien invasion with heartland ingenuity that promotes… Continue reading A Quiet Place
Kubo and the Two Strings
The limits of parental love define Kubo and the Two Strings, in which a grieving orphan accepts the challenge of overcoming his evil grandfather through manipulating paper with song. Wait all the way through “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” –May 31, 2018
Eye in the Sky
My kids have toy drones. The “kids” in Eye in the Sky have them, too, but their drones carry missile systems to murder (we hope) terrorists in the sweet spot where bureaucracy meets video games and the post-9/11 surveillance state. SPOILER: Helen Mirren wins. –April 30, 2018
Baby Driver
I expected nothing. Then I saw and heard something way better than “meh.” Baby Driver combines tinnitus with stunt driving and 2-D-characters as the sandbox for good actors chewing scenery. Think ballet + criminal mischief / love story. –January 31, 2018
Get Out
Over-praised, under-examined, well cast, and timely, Get Out was Jordan Peele’s “It” movie. Daniel Kaluuya anchors this fantasy spin on White supremacist hard drive backups. Enjoy the scene stealing of Lakeith Stanfield and Betty Gabriel. –January 31, 2018
The Little Prince
A helicopter mom meets an elderly neighbor, and her overschedule daughter learns to reconcile a great story with how to make a good life for herself. It’s The Little Prince, but not the book you may have read or the movie with music by Lerner and Loewe. –January 31, 2018
