4.5 and 5 Star Reviews

PTA Filmography Series Part 3: Magnolia

Posted on May 1, 2020May 27, 2020 by Adam

"The book says: We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." - Jimmy Gator / Quiz Kid Donnie Smith / Narrator I'm pretty sure Anderson cringes at this movie. And I do too, honestly. The above quote can seem faux-deep when isolated and presented at the top of a semi-critical analysis like this one. It seems a bit trite. Overly melodrama...

PTA Filmography Series Part 2: Boogie Nights

Posted on April 26, 2020May 27, 2020 by Adam

This is Anderson's Scorsese movie. Sure, there’s a bunch of Altman here too. But it feels like Scorsese with those sweeping long takes and great musical synchronization. I've seen this movie a few times in my life. For some reason, it never quite stuck. I liked it okay. But I never really understood the adulation it often received. Well this time...it stuck.&nbsp...

Review – A Star is Born

Posted on February 1, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

If you’ve seen his performance on Jimmy Fallon, you know that Bradley Cooper is an absolutely prodigious air guitarist. So it makes sense that he makes for a great rock star. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really WANT to like this movie. I am not a huge Gaga fan. Mind you, I don’t have anything against her. But I wasn’t really interested in her cross-over to acting. But damn it ...

Review – Burning

Posted on January 31, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

The whole time I was watching this movie, I kept saying to myself, “this feels like Murakami.” It had the mystic conversations in a low-lit diner, and the presence of mysterious cats, and the quiet male protagonist captivated by a free spirited yet complicated girl - all staples of Haruki Murakami’s fiction. It had that feeling of this supernatural world hiding beneath the...

Review – If Beale Street Could Talk

Posted on January 26, 2019February 15, 2019 by Adam

This film has lingered on the periphery of my day today, trailing behind me like a shadow. I'll turn around and abruptly notice it there, indistinct but indisputable. This is just such a beautiful piece of filmmaking, based on a great novel by an iconic author, James Baldwin. For director Barry Jenkins, this is a perfect followup to Moonlight. It has this mix of biting ...

Review – Roma

Posted on December 16, 2018December 17, 2018 by Adam

I tend to think a lot about what I think about movies. Or of music, or TV, or books. I have this impulse to categorize my enjoyment of a piece of art. To compare it to other things I have seen, and rate and rank it alongside other similar pieces of art. This can often be very enjoyable. It forces me to evaluate what I find important. But sometimes there’s a problem with th...

Micro Review – Minding the Gap

Posted on December 10, 2018December 11, 2018 by Adam

An inspiring and devastating documentary following a group of skater friends struggling to find a path from childhood to adulthood in a dying midwestern town. Devastating in the harsh realities these real life characters must confront about their difficult pasts. Inspiring in the sheer talent and vision of filmmaker Bing Liu, who has a remarkable ability to capture stories...

Rewatch Review – A Quiet Place

Posted on November 29, 2018December 4, 2018 by Adam

Look...This is great. It's great. It's even better the second time. Maybe it has to do with me watching it with my wife, who has stressful dreams already, and just watching her reactions to everything, how totally into it she gets while also just hating every moment of it (she liked it). If she makes it through an entire movie without falling asleep, you kno...

Micro Review – It’s A Wonderful Life

Posted on November 24, 2018December 4, 2018 by Adam

It's easy to forget how intense and potentially innovating It's a Wonderful Life really was. It's part of the Holiday Canon. It's a universally accepted member of the "Best Christmas movies" discussion. For those of us who still maintain a cable subscription, we'll often catch a scene or two when it's on between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But it's mostly just a "remembered...

Review – In the Mood for Love

Posted on November 23, 2018December 4, 2018 by Adam

Everything about In The Mood For Love is perfectly crafted to make you fall into these characters’ lives. To feel the feelings they feel. The cinematography is tightly framed and deliberate. The slim-fitted, high-necked dresses Maggie Cheung wears are gorgeous, but it seems that her character hides herself in her wardrobe. Tony Leung's performance is both heartbre...