Category: Film

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Peter Jackson’s Return of the King is a supreme classic, but here are some things that bug me about it

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Peter Jackson’s The Return of the King, which completed his triumphant adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I recently watched the entire film trilogy for the first time in probably 15 years. As much as I know these films backwards and … Continue reading Peter Jackson’s Return of the King is a supreme classic, but here are some things that bug me about it

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Prey: Groundbreaking Indigenous action-horror that kicks ass

This is a reader-supported blog. If you like what you read, consider buying me a coffee!  There’s something both enlightening and frustrating about watching Prey, the new Predator prequel set in Comanche country in the 18th century, now streaming on Hulu (or on Disney+ in some regions, including Australia where I am). It’s such a revelation … Continue reading Prey: Groundbreaking Indigenous action-horror that kicks ass

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Bore, thud and blunder: The MCU jumps the shark

The thing about panning a Marvel film is you find yourself temporarily allied with the Marvel haters, and that’s annoying. Yes, I found the latest theatrical film in the saga, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, incredibly tiresome and pointless, an outrageous waste of talent and resources. The haters see every Marvel film the same … Continue reading Bore, thud and blunder: The MCU jumps the shark

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New York’s postpunk revival deserves a better documentary than Meet Me in the Bathroom

You can tell that Meet Me in the Bathroom, the new documentary about New York’s explosive music scene of the early 2000s, is going to misfire from the very first sequence. A 1959 recording of actor Ed Begley reading “Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun,” Walt Whitman’s soaring tribute to New York from his masterwork … Continue reading New York’s postpunk revival deserves a better documentary than Meet Me in the Bathroom

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Firenadoes, koala denialism and hanging loose: Australia’s apocalyptic bushfires prove Don’t Look Up isn’t exaggerating

This is intended as a companion piece to my recent essay about Don’t Look Up. It was originally meant to be a section of that essay, made up of no more than a few paragraphs, but as I wrote, it kept expanding. Eventually I realized I had so much to say about the bushfires here … Continue reading Firenadoes, koala denialism and hanging loose: Australia’s apocalyptic bushfires prove Don’t Look Up isn’t exaggerating

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Black Widow review: Finally, Natasha Romanoff gets to be a whole person

Black Widow is a lot of things. It’s long overdue. It’s a great deal of fun. It’s a bit of a mess. It’s admirably quirky and original, until it isn’t. It’s a significant entry in the genre of feminist superhero films. It’s too little too late. We waited a long time for this film. Not … Continue reading Black Widow review: Finally, Natasha Romanoff gets to be a whole person