Under the Silver Lake, which I can only describe as slacker noir, is equal parts weird, funny, poignant, absurd, pleased with itself, visually arresting, engrossing, meandering, saturated…
A Prayer Before Dawn (2018)
A Prayer Before Dawn clocks in at only two hours, and yet I could have sworn it was three. The beginning ground me down with its desperation, so by the end I just wanted to see this poor man out.
Lucky (2018)
Roger Ebert famously said that movies are machines that generate empathy, and this is exactly what Lucky does: it shows us the lives of other people and teaches us to love them for what they are.
Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)
Saying that this is worth watching only for the action sounds condescending, but the truth is that Fallout could be used to teach how to shoot and, just as importantly, how to edit action.
Short Term 12 (2013)
You owe it to yourself to see Short Term 12. The world gains empathy and understanding every time someone watches it for the first time. It is that rare perfect film –perfect just the way it is– that looks at people with piercing clarity and boundless compassion at the same time.
Hotel Artemis (2018)
So, I can tell you what happens in Hotel Artemis, but I’m not sure I could tell you what it’s about. There is no real narrative throughline that unites these characters, no defined goal that marks the general path we want the story to follow.
Game Night (2018)
Game Night is the funniest film to come out this year (would be even if there was more competition). It’s funny because it’s extremely clever, but it’s also funny because it’s not afraid to be silly.
Everybody Knows (2018)
Everybody Knows takes us to a Spanish village, deep in wine country, where a family is reunited, old grudges come to the surface, the unthinkable happens, and all that was unsaid is, inevitably, said.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Solo is thoroughly entertaining; I’m just disappointed that this and Rogue One insist on coloring strictly within the lines of the original trilogy instead of taking the chance to -quite literally- expand the universe.
It’s Only the End of the World (2016)
What a delight, what a rare privilege, to see a work of art so full to the brim with talent. This is a movie that knows how to find the cosmic in the commonplace, the monumental in the smallest interactions. It is a tragedy, but it is also, simply, life.
The Film Tower 