The photo featured here is of my dad and me (and someone else who I hope enjoyed the film) at a screening of An Elephant Sitting Still at Lincoln Center in 2019. He died on October 26th, and while the scope of his life is certainly not confined to the
Okay sike one more before I go - I had the great privilege of introducing In Review Online's retrospective of Lee Chang-dong's work--for my money, the world's greatest living filmmaker--with an essay stitching together his seven movies and placing them in conversation
Aaron Sorkin began his directing career at the tender age of 56, decidedly later than most. As one of Hollywood’s most widely celebrated screenwriters, he might’ve felt the compulsion to bask in a little more glory, and what better way to garner attention than calling the shots on
I tend to overeat; my eyes are bigger than my stomach. I cave to the same overindulgence when it comes to movies, too: if presented the opportunity, I will rot in a chair for an entire day, soaking in what's on the screen. A film festival is a
![FJORD (2026, Mungiu) [NYFF Review]](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4f/e6/4fe6b221-8357-41b8-a6fb-14698168315c/content/images/size/w600/2026/09/image-1.png)
I've been hearing about Christian Mungiu since I plugged myself into the arthouse world in the early 2010s, but I never gave myself the time to catch up with his work. A Romanian director, he primarily sets his films there; Fjord, however, follows a Romanian-Norwegian family persecuted
Increasingly, directors are looking back and staying there. I can't blame them; it's hard to look at the present moment with clear eyes. A select few, however, are reaching into the past and bringing it back to now, complicating our understanding of that past and informing
Major spoiler in the penultimate paragraph. For a long time, I've been waiting for someone my age (i.e., born in 1996) to make a mainstream movie. Lance Oppenheim, a documentarian best known for his good yet overrated HBO limited series Ren Faire, takes the prize. His documentary
It's me, weekly.
"Ted Kaczynski offers us one of the great case studies in worthwhile notions and piss-poor execution. It’s hard to look at his ideas and not see some value; industrial society does kind of suck, so it’s no wonder he’s been picked up in certain corners
Like most nerds who grew up in the 2000s, I had a relationship with Resident Evil. I was first exposed (as it were) to it via my babysitter's brother Keith, who I caught playing Resident Evil 2 on a plastic-covered couch in his family's den
"A Paul Greengrass movie is a lot like finding yourself stuck next to a talkative history professor on a plane. Well-meaning, passionate, and rambling, you listen to him because the stories he tells are immediate and earnestly felt, despite the likelihood they’re grossly exaggerated. The Uprising fits
Summer is closing. The weather remains warm, but the chill of autumn whispers its hello with a breeze that reminds us of time’s passing. It would be the perfect opportunity to catch a new John Carpenter movie, wouldn’t it? Too bad he’s been keeping himself busy writing
![The Odyssey [Round Two] (2026, Nolan)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/4f/e6/4fe6b221-8357-41b8-a6fb-14698168315c/content/images/size/w600/2026/08/christopher-nolan-odyssey-02.webp)
My initial thoughts on The Odyssey can be found here. I saw The Odyssey in IMAX 70MM. I've had many good conversations about The Odyssey since it was released a month ago, and its staying power in the zeitgeist is due at least in part to its presentation.
I'm a Minions guy–have been since Despicable Me. I hid behind the veil of irony for a long time, mostly to protect a false sense of integrity associated with my affection for highbrow fare. "Someone can't like Minions and Malick," I whispered to
I don't usually write reviews three weeks after having watched the film in question, and Lucky Strike isn't even a movie that's worth the trouble (nor has it really stuck around in my mind), but something about it compels me to engage with it
The story of how someone finds their way to Rising Up and Rising Down is not as interesting as the book itself, but because of its scarcity it's at least a little more interesting than your average Kindle purchase. To wit: I'll admit to being something
I knew this would happen. Once I started publishing my film criticism at In Review Online, this space slowly shriveled. It's not dead yet, but I haven't posted anything since October 20th of last year, and while those of you who wanted to follow me over
Had a nice busy month over at In Review Online! First up, Ne Zha 2 - Technically an August release, but I haven't shared my review until now. The movie is worth a look, particularly if you're interested in how blockbuster cinema is shaping up in China.
I'm lucky to say it's been a busy month for me, publishing-wise. I've got two more reviews up at In Review Online and short story published in Unlikely Stories Six. First, the story. I wrote "Yerushah" last fall to reckon with
My first contemporaneous review for In Review Online!