“It’s all going to go away … into blackness, the void.” “And what do you do with that?” “What do we do with that?” “You smile…” Harry Dean Stanton was the quintessential actor’s actor and his last film is a fitting final act for a stellar career. (Stanton passed away on September 15, 2017 at the ripe old […]
movie review
Post-Apocalyptic Family Values: A Review of A Quiet Place
A Quiet Place opens with a family searching an abandoned drugstore for supplies. It soon becomes clear that we are in a familiar post-apocalyptic trope. But one feature of the scene stands out: the silence. Everyone is using sign language and proceeding with the utmost care not to make a sound. Before the final title credit, […]
All Saints: A Christian movie for non-fundamentalists
A few weeks ago I was invited to attend a pre-screening of All Saints, a “Christian movie”. I’m not sure what a Christian movie is, but as best I can guess, in popular parlance it is a movie marketed to evangelical Christians. That in itself is enough to make me skeptical. As a cinephile, I’m interested […]
Gleason: A Review
Over the last couple weeks I’ve heard a lot of people exclaim what a horrible year it has been. I admit that I’ve grumbled a bit myself. However, I won’t do so anymore. Gleason has a way of putting things into perspective. This extraordinary documentary debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. In a perfect […]
Lights Out: A Review
Last night I finally got around to watching the summer horror hit Lights Out. The film grew out of this award winning 2 1/2 minute horror short from 2013 (also called Lights Out). I have long been a fan of supernatural horror films, and Lights Out is provides a satisfying pastiche of familiar horror tropes including the following (caution: mild spoilers […]