Perhaps the most succinct way to describe Destination Wedding is if Richard Linklater’s iconic Before…Trilogy featured two despicable curmudgeons who, instead of waxing poetic about life’s great philosophical quandaries, spew vitriolic misanthropy towards each other and society as a whole, while slowly falling in love. Anyone who knows me will understand how this is most definitely…
Category: comedy
Hearts Beat Loud (2018)
Audacity doesn’t need a big budget to be fully-realized, and no one knows this better than Brett Haley, the director of some illuminating independent comedies, such I’ll See You in My Dreams and The Hero, as well as the subject of this review, Hearts Beat Loud. A gentle, unassuming and heartwarming project, this film is the representative of everything…
Damsel (2018)
There’s nothing better than a good genre film, especially a genre that has somewhat fallen out of favour. Except for a film that subverts the genre and re-imagines it as something entirely different, unique and wonderful. Nathan and David Zellner made Damsel, which could quite possibly be the most outrageously hilarious Western since Blazing Saddles…
BlacKkKlansman (2018)
When someone asks me why I admire Spike Lee, I normally point to any of his tremendous films such as Jungle Fever, 25th Hour, She’s Gotta Have It or Do the Right Thing, a film I consider to be the greatest film ever made by an American director. This year, he may have just proven…
Female Trouble (1974)
I’ve expressed my utter adoration and admiration for John Waters on so many occasions. I find his work so engaging and unconventionally charming, not to mention one is not likely to find someone so suave and endearing as him. Yet, every time I watch one of his films, I find myself wondering exactly why it…
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Diversity in the arts is important. This is less of an opinion and more of an objective fact. Mainstream media has a tendency to often give attention to some groups over others, and the bigger the production, the less likely it is to find diverse representation, because of the outdated notion that audiences are attracted…
She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
There is nothing that imbues me with as much unbridled joy as seeing “A Spike Lee Joint” flash across my screen when I am watching a film. Spike Lee is amongst the finest filmmakers working today, and he has consistently been one of the most revered voices in contemporary cinema, directing quite possibly the greatest…
Moonstruck (1987)
What is the factor that takes something from being an excellent film to a masterwork that endures through generations? Normally, I’d argue innovation and subversion are the main ways that most of the greatest films of all time have upheld their reputation. Yet, this isn’t always the case, as many films (including the subject of…
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
Ten years ago, my mother took me to see Mamma Mia!, and I was immediately transfixed by this experience. Perhaps not a towering masterpiece (not that it ever attempted to be), but it was an energetic and exuberant musical that paired some of the most iconic songs ever recorded with beyond brilliant performers in a…
Life Is Sweet (1990)
Here’s a fact that I have made very clear throughout the years: I love Mike Leigh. I adore his films, and one in particular (as I’ve said on multiple occasions) is Naked, possibly my personal favorite film, and something I revisit often. It may be perceived as poor writing to constantly start my reviews with…
