ANORA. Occasionally, unexpectedly, a work of art — in its evocativeness and embrace of its medium — stymies critical reaction. That may be (partially) an excuse for lethargy due to other sectors of life; impending national and global crises could be a factor. But Anora is one of the most exciting, human, fully realized exercises […]
The Miniplex
Posted inArts + Scene
Baby Assassins to the Rescue
BABY ASSASSINS. In the weeks before the election, I leveled out my internal and external vibes with a steady flow of horror movies — easy enough to do during Spooky Season anyway. But in the week following our nation’s failed group project, I find myself drawn back to the oblivion of action and uninterested in […]
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Absolution Falls Short
On the eve of whatever is to come, I briefly struggled with the notion of dragging myself to another Robert Zemeckis experiment in “cutting-edge” technology paired with increasingly staid, conventional, didactic storytelling. In the case of Here, his latest, the conceit, as I understand it, is that the camera remains static through eons of time, […]
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An ’80s Horror Fest
Despite my whole “whatever it is,” I am not, in fact, immune to the spirit of the season. I don’t have a costume lined up, but there are voluminous bags of candy to be deployed, John Carpenter’s themes remain in heavy rotation on the turntable and I’ve been steadily making my way through a stack […]
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Woman of the Hour and the Dating Gaze
WOMAN OF THE HOUR. In the “real,” nightmare world of late 20th century America, when serial killers seemed to lurk inside every tricked-out van and basement apartment in America, there was a television show predicated on the importance of the male gaze and horrifically distorted sexual dynamics and expectations (really, it was only one of […]
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Music Tonight: Sunday, 20
Tonight is a very good night for those of you out there who appreciate improvisation music done right by two champions of the punk to cosmic soul train and a next-gen, more modern acolyte of the form. I am speaking about Mike Watt, founding bassist of pioneering punk act the Minutemen, guitarist Joe Baiza of […]
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The Making of Monsters
SATURDAY NIGHT. Although I have drifted through long, possibly significant eras of the show without giving it so much as a look, Saturday Night Live has been an influence and a cultural barometer, even before I got brave or dumb enough to sneak out of my room to watch it. Now in its fifth decade, […]
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Music Tonight: Saturday, Oct. 12
The Miniplex is the place to be tonight if you are looking for the sort of dreamy pop music that makes one gaze down in reflection at one’s navel or shoes. Seattle’s MØAA plays a series of nocturnal submissions designed to make the mind fill in unreal spaces between the buildings of bedsore reality. And […]
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Alone Together
HIS THREE DAUGHTERS. Deep into the third act of writer-director Azazel Jacobs’ (French Exit, 2020; Terri, 2011) latest, a dying man’s thoughts on obituary are paraphrased by one of his titular daughters. To further paraphrase, a description of the departed’s life can only fail to convey the totality of that life and its end; only […]
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Journeys of the Self
MEGALOPOLIS. For a person who (still) uses Apocalypse Now (1979) to self-soothe, a new Francis Ford Coppola movie is kind of a big deal, no argument. The excitement of that prospect was and is tempered by several factors, though. First, there is the notion that the filmmaker in question has been busier with his wine […]
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Never Let Go‘s Tenuous Bonds
NEVER LET GO. Let me begin by opening myself up to scorn and ridicule: We need to give Halle Berry another crack at the role of Catwoman. Her action work in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and Bruised (2020), in which her fighting chops (in her damn 50s) were equaled by her portrayal of […]
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Speak No Evil‘s Toxic Traits
SPEAK NO EVIL. It was only after seeing this English language remake — a softer version than the 2022 original Danish film of the same title, I’m told — that I realized the Danes must be a good deal tougher and take their drama bleaker than I do (“Hell is Visiting Other People,” Sept. 22, […]