Considered an industry staple after the fact, The Searchers was released to a tepid response from audiences. Critics couldn’t help but appreciate Ford’s directorial eye, and Wayne’s commanding presence. But, as Bosley Crowther of the New York Times puts it,
Garden State – Letting Go of Home
How do you complement Garden State without sounding like an arrogant phony? This self-centered navel-gazer paved the way for a number of knock-off twenty-something movies with characters who griped over how their lives were meaningless while standing at the apex
Gone with the Wind: A Weakness for Lost Causes
Gone with the Wind is no gentleman. It’s a good thing I’m no lady. The best selling movie of all time (adjusting for inflation) summons forth an idealized South; a timeless world which can never go away because it was
Westworld: Yul Brynner is our new Robot Overlord
You know how in Jurassic Park, Dr. Jeff Goldblum says “If The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists”? Well, um… Welcome to Westworld! A vast amusement park where human replicants act out scenes from
The Birds: Raven Reviews With No Egrets
Lock the doors! Board the windows! Bring in the patio tablecloth, and move the bird bath into the garage! They’re coming! The Birds are coming! Tom Lacallaide and I crack open a bag of Haribo Gummy Colas, as we respond
The Fifth Element doesn’t Multipass. It’s Hot, Hot, Hot
If Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets didn’t work with audiences, it may be because director Luc Besson was saddled with an impossible standard. The Fifth Element, his first stab at SciFi, was jam-packed with quirky choices and
The Little Prince: I’m Not Crying, You Are
Joseph Rousseau and I make visible that which is essential about the 2015 adaptation of The Little Prince. We put on our brave faces for the show and definitely didn’t bawl our eyes out between takes. Is… is this studio
Following: Christopher Nolan Is Standing Right Behind You
What can you buy with $6,000? A solid used car? Front row seats to see Hamilton with seven friends? How about a multiple award winning feature length movie? Jonathan Rousseau and I talk Following, Christopher Nolan’s debut film about a
Dr. Zhivago: In Defense of the Personal Life
There are two kinds of movies and only two. And Dr. Zhivago is one type of movie. It’s high-minded. It’s pure. And it breeds unhappiness, particularly in film reviewers. Bob Gariepy joins me for ice cream and revolution, as we
Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: Junk Goblins and the Goblin King’s Junk
Sarah Blackstone and I break out the Fun Dip before waxing nostalgic over junk goblins and the Goblin King’s junk in Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Connolly and David Bowie, directed by Jim Henson. Click here to see the video