The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty in postwar New York City transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant youngest son. It is crystal clear why The Godfather is so high up on the AFI list. It’s the “be all, end all” of movies for many. It’s a masterclass on filmmaking, honestly. And there’s so many components that director Francis Ford Coppola … Continue reading 2. The Godfather (1972)
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis. Schindler’s List is, arguably, the defining Holocaust film. I remember having to get a waiver signed when I was in the eighth grade, so we could watch the film once we finished our Holocaust unit. (Yes. We had a Holocaust unit.) … Continue reading 8. Schindler’s List (1993)
Listen: save for Doctor Strange, Scott Derrickson can’t write a film for nothin’ (and I attribute Doctor Strange‘s success to the visuals and the control that Marvel had over the subject matter. There were standards to uphold.) Nearly every time I have watched a film written and directed by that man, I end up watching a film with flimsily put together characters who have little to … Continue reading The Black Phone (2022)
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter. I find it very fitting that, as I sit down to write this post, it looks as if it may rain outside. I have only ever watched Mike Nichols’ The Graduate twice in my life: once as I was ending high school, going into college and the other in my junior year of … Continue reading 17. The Graduate (1967)
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter was a film that hit me unexpectedly. I went in knowing very little about it. All I knew is that the film was adapted and directed by Gyllenhaal, and starred Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Jessie Buckley, and was categorized by Netflix as “cerebral, understated, intimate”. And that’s it. That’s all I had to go off of. I had no … Continue reading The Lost Daughter (2021)
An Oklahoma family driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression. Don’t you hate it when a movie made in the 1940s is still relevant 81 years later? The Grapes of Wrath starred Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and Russell Simpson as members of the Joad … Continue reading 23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Atticus Finch, a lawyer in the Depression-era South, defends a black man against an undeserved rape charge, and his children against prejudice. The last time I watched Robert Mulligan’s To Kill a Mockingbird, I was in highschool. Freshman year, I think it was. We had just finished reading the book, so naturally that was followed with the film. I remember really disliking the book, and not … Continue reading 25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The new Charlie Kaufman film, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, has been met with a varying degree of opinions. Some really enjoyed the film while others, not so much. Personally, I liked the film, but that’s only after thinking about it overnight to really make sense of what I watched. Charlie Kaufman is a director and screenwriter that I love, so I partly knew to expect … Continue reading I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020): The Human Condition in Three Acts
I was really excited for this film solely based on the cast. I was excited to watch Auli’i Cravalho in a live-action film, and I love Carol Burnett. Along with those two, the film also stars Judy Reyes, Justina Machado, and Fred Armisen, all actors I appreciate.. To say I was disappointed with this film is an understatement. Unfortunately, I ended up being rather annoyed. … Continue reading All Together Now (2020)
When Doctor Sleep was first released in theaters, I remember the film receiving mixed reviews, which made me hesitant to watch it. The film The Shining is my favorite horror film. I didn’t know how much they would refer to the film vs. the book The Shining because those two are very different. I was more or less just nervous about the screenplay and how … Continue reading Doctor Sleep (2019): A Return to the Overlook Hotel
