“Look at the CCTV tapes again and see who the pizza delivery man is. I think the double-chinned bastard .. oh, I beg your pardon,” Miss Klein said, looking at Hubbard, who was busy downing another doughnut.
still I could swear I sensed his tide
tugging elsewhere I suppose he felt
a need to offer me some swaying
of water so he showed me the lagoon
On Chesil Beach represents my early pick for Best Picture.
Adapting his own novella, Ian McEwan presents a heartbreakingly honest portrait of a newlywed couple and the qualities that tear them apart. Beautifully conceived by director Dominic Cooke and lensed by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, its narrative layers naturally coalesce in this meditation on love, cultural mores, and personal sacrifice.
The chemistry between rising star Billy Howle and Saoirse Ronan—who has matured into the finest actress of her generation since she appeared in Joe Wright’s adaptation of McEwan’s Atonement—is palpable. They carry emotional weight capable of moving audiences to tears.
Anton Chekhov's play receives a serviceable, if slight, adaptation from Michael Mayer (A Home at the End of the World). He directs his ensemble cast with poise, allowing his camera to roam about the confined lakeside setting as if it were a fly on the wall. Although the film plays it safe, how the cast embody their roles is particularly captivating. Annette Bening is alternately vivacious and cruel; Saoirse Ronan is radiant; and Corey Stoll gives his best performance since his portrayal of Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris. The rest of the cast add charm to this comedy’s delights.
On the series finale of Drunk Monkeys Radio, Matt, Ryan, and LVH talk the best films of 1998! Lebowski, Rushmore, and much more! Plus, a look ahead to the future of our intrepid Filmcast crew with Worth A Click: A Movie Review Podcast.
Hey, Star Wars fan? Ever wonder where Han Solo got his name from? What’s that? Not once? Well, then it’s hard to know what to make of this year’s Star Wars [copyright Walt Disney Corporation, 2018], which offers us an answer to that question, and many others, we never asked. More pressing questions, such as how Han met Chewbacca, how he got the Millennium Falcon, and does Lando Calrissian fuck droids receive answers, to varying degrees of satisfaction. As an exploration of one of the most beloved film characters ever, it's not much, but as cosplay it’s fairly impressive.
Coralie Fargeat’s feature debut tackles the rape-revenge story with an assured style and precise direction. However, only so much one can done with this marginal genre. On the plus side, Matilda Lutz delivers a strong performance; the film is beautifully lensed with a color palette reminiscent of Mad Max: Fury Road; and gorehounds get their fill of over-the-top violence. Unfortunately, thrills are dampened throughout because Fargeat’s feminist slant utilizes overwrought symbolism and recycled boilerplate dialogue. As a result, Revenge doesn’t offer more than exploitation schlock like I Spit On Your Grave or more refined genre staples such as Ms. 45.
PODCASTOrdinary GracePam Jones
An interview with Pam Jones, author of Andermatt County: Two Parables about her Bible Students upbringing, Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the gory deaths of Catholic martyrs.
The Filmcast crew assembles for a discussion of yet ANOTHER Marvel movie, this one featuring nearly every character, Avengers: Infinity War!
There comes a point when you have lived your life with someone for so long that you can't hide your guilt. Naomi had stumbled upon mine with a simple look in my eye and she knew. She asked, “What are you not telling me?”
A debut feature from Sean Woodard, exploring great moment in film scoring, starting with Ennio Morricone’s score for Duck, You Sucker.
The distant night opens like a pearl / fan, a skirt, a heart,
a drop of salt. The peasants who picked the beans
are / sleeping— they will turn into a billion sunflower
seeds
Gabriel Ricard takes on Scorsese and the latest Marvel spectacular in his latest Captain Canada column.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018); Being Two Isn’t Easy (1962); Andre the Giant (2018); The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (2018); Pure Luck (1991)
COMICSMr. ButterchipsAlex Schumacher
Butterchips meets up with Rodolfo, the Happiest of Pills, in his latest adventure, written and illustrated by Alex Schumacher.
not all milkmen can know how the wretched can live off spoilage.
Ask me where to find need. I am ringmaster of my own sinkings.
I knew the Lord was testin me, but I also knew he had not abandoned me. I watched the trees grow shaggy and buds erupt. The colors and the insects returned. He was resurrecting the world yet again. And if he could do that, year after year after year, I knew I could go on.
Last winter I sat cross legged in the empty house at night.
I sing like crystal. I am perfectly cut Czechoslovakian glass.
The orchard is dying, the branches all charred with fire blight.
The sand in my hair,
the sand in my shoes near the satin-coco lining— a dolphin washed ashore,
your mouth the memory of a rooster on top a hanging silence…
We drove to Washington, DC, waving
our hands through the sage haze so we could
see the road, stretched our legs at the Museum of Tolerance
looking for whales.
It is terrible luck to carry a woman on a ship like this.
I carry this woman here, hidden, so there were two aboard.
The sail runs up, with a white flag, made of lace and satin,
tied at the neck with pearls and something blue.