Well, that didn’t suck! I’m a big believer that, one way or another, every year is a good year for movies. The studios might crank out a bunch of crap, the indies might produce the kind of thing that only the most annoying cineastes appreciate, yet there are always diamonds in the rough. Every year that movies are released we will get good movies, we might just have to look a little harder for them. Some years, there is an embarrassment of riches. 1939. 1982. 1999. I feel comfortable adding 2023 to that list, because holy hell did we get some good stuff! Yes, the DC Extended Universe ended... Read More

Does sincere have to mean serious? A lot of filmmakers seem to think so. The idea exists that, in order to say something about the human condition, the yuk-yuks need to be tamped down. Why? Because if humor exists, it will inevitably leech away the essential emotional truth of a film. At least, that’s the theory. I can hear some of you saying, “What, are you saying there needed to be a moment in Schindler’s List where Oskar Schindler got kicked in the nuts by a mischievous kid?” I am not. I’m saying a well-placed joke, even one appearing in a film about a monstrous event, can reveal important... Read More