Automated podcast here. The Duke of Burgundy (2014): Peter Strickland wowed me with his 2018 feature In Fabric, but his best received movie was this surreal relationship drama starring Sidse Babett Knudsen and Chiara D’Anna. The two play a pair of lovers with a tendency towards roleplay and domination, but the story really plays to… Read more

Automated podcast here. My Octopus Teacher (2020): This year’s best documentary Oscar winner tells a touching story about the connectedness of nature and our ability to draw from that. Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed worked with Craig Foster, filmmaker and diver, in capturing the latter’s journey of rediscovery within the kelp forest, situated in the… Read more

Tropic Thunder (2008): To be fair, I didn’t really rewatch the movie – I rewatched the director’s commentary, which is definitely a first for me. Tropic Thunder itself is a phenomenally fun ride that most likely would not be made again in this day and age, but it stands out as one of the best… Read more

Another Round (2020): I shied away from watching Thomas Vinterberg’s Academy Award nominated movie because of it’s predictably…sobering subject matter – “Four friends, all high school teachers, test a theory that they will improve their lives by maintaining a constant level of alcohol in their blood.”. As expected, the “experiment” creates more problems than it… Read more

This week’s automated podcast is available on Anchor. The Father (2020): Dementia (particularly Alzheimer) has been a theme in many successful movies during the last decade or so, clearly a significant concern for our ever-aging Western society. These movies are never easy to watch. What sets The Father a apart is its nonlinear storytelling and… Read more

Check out the automated podcast here. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2020): If you’ve followed this blog at all, you know by now that I’m a sucker for time-loopy-rom-coms. What that in mind, I was surprised to come across TMoTPT, a time-loopy movie starring Kathryn Newton and Kyle Allen. The two make for a… Read more

Automated podcast here. Nomadland (2020): Chloe Zhao’s The Rider was a revelation and I’m glad to write that Nomadland is an equally accomplished piece of filmmaking. Telling the story of people living on the periphery of what most of us consider society to be, often the tales of actual people, playing versions of themselves, it… Read more

Listen to the (automated) podcast version of this week’s review at Anchor. Fourteen (2019): This is a powerful, lesser known drama about two friends, Mara and Jo, one sober and pragmatic, the other exuberant and quirky, and the frustrating dynamic between them. It almost feels like I am spoiling what the movie is about by… Read more

Holiday (1938): It’s good to see that even going back to the 1930s, there were people thinking of ways to retire in their 30s – if only they’d had some crypto to speculate in the day! Starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, George Cukor’s romance shows its age at time, both thematically and in how… Read more

In & of Itself (2020): A surprising find (from the HBR podcast), Derek DelGaudio’s “documentary” is the rare example of an engrossing one-man performance that’s both clever and insightful, without feeling forced. It’s not your usual piece of filmmaking, as DelGaudio incorporates some impressive illusions to tell tales about himself and his (our) sense of… Read more

The Dig (2020): A good period piece is always enjoyable and, for the most part, The Dig is just that. Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan are fascinating to watch in the interbelic story of one of Britain’s greatest archeological finds and while the movie focuses on them and their intrepid exploration, it’s engrossing. Unfortunately, about… Read more

Une fille facile (2019): A little dormant gem on Netflix, Rebecca Zlotowski’s An Easy Girl is a coming of age story that turned out considerably more wholesome than I expected. Leaving prejudice at the door, it tells the story of 16-year-old Naima’s summer with Sofia, her older cousin, who is, as many would surmise, the… Read more