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Eighth Grade
Anyone who says they loved eighth grade is lying. It’s the perfect storm. Bullies, hormones, rejection, fear, doubt, and self-loathing. Rinse, repeat. But what was hell on earth is cinema heaven. Enter stand-up comedian Bo Burnham. Eighth Grade is Burnham’s feature film debut, and he couldn’t have picked a time in our lives more rife…
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First Reformed
Paul Schrader is better known for his writing than directing. Though he’s directed over 20 films, it’s his screenwriting collaborations with Martin Scorsese that have stood the test of time. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Bringing Out the Dead highlight Schrader’s proclivities as a writer. All three feature a tortured protagonist walking against the current…
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
In the continued Hollywood landscape of expanding universes and intellectual property mining, very few franchises feel at home apart from their source material. Comic book movies have, well, their comic books. Book series like Game of Thrones and old films like Westworld find their homes in prestige television ventures. But perhaps no existing franchise feels…
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Red Sparrow
Who does not like a good spy story? The Bourne and Bond series (philosophically discussed on this website here), Bridge of Spies, Munich, The Manchurian Candidate (1962 version of course), the Jack Ryan films, the Mission: Impossible films (one is here), and my personal hidden gem that few have seen Farewell. Then there are the…
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Unsane
In my mind, one of the calling cards of all great movies is the way they stay with an audience well after the credits have rolled. Stunning visuals, great dialogue, actors at the height of their powers — these things are all fine. But there’s an indefinable quality that the best filmmakers seem to be…
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Annihilation
Our podcast this month was originally on A Wrinkle in Time. Then we saw the movie… Tune in to the beginning for Jon’s epic rant, and then stay for a discussion of a movie that’s actually worth talking about: Annihilation. Alex Garland is a prolific writer, ranging from novels (The Beach) to screenplays (28 Days…
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I Can Only Imagine
For the approximately six of you who have read my previous, somewhat (mostly?) pretentious, overly-hyperlinked reviews here, you’ll recall my contention that if Christians should prevail at any sort of filmmaking, it will be documentaries. That’s because we Christians have stories to tell, and documentaries are about story first. Cinematography is a nice to have,…
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Darkest Hour
In America none of us ever feared that our country would be invaded and we would be subjugated to the will of a foreign country. Even in WWII we were confident that our foreign opponents could and would be overcome, and even if they were not totally defeated, they would not invade the American continent.…
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Mudbound
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The Shape of Water
You’d be forgiven for writing off Guillermo del Toro as just another genre director. Entries like Hellboy, Blade Runner II, Pacific Rim, and Crimson Peak fit neatly in that vein. But if you really want to uncover del Toro’s heart, look no further than 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth. The film has been described as an “adult…
