Review: “OBEX”

Cocooned from the shrill clicking of the 17-year cicada brood outside by the static buzz of his television sets— three, to be exact, stacked one on top of the other and nestled against a vast wall of VHS tapes— Conor (Albert Birney) lives a life of pleasant seclusion, drawing comfort from the company of his […]

Best Movies of 2025

Was 2025 a good year for movies? I find myself asking that question at the end of every year, although I don’t know why, because every year, regardless of its unique ups and downs, ultimately contains multiple gems that are worth getting excited about. My favorites mostly came in a rush at the tail-end of […]

Review: “Marty Supreme”

Marty Mauser isn’t a human being— he’s the vessel for a potent cocktail of relentless ambition and pure ego. Coasting by on the sheer force of his charisma, his arrogance ballooned so big it doesn’t allow space for anyone to refuse him, the competitive table tennis star doesn’t have an actual paying job, doesn’t worry […]

Holiday Classics: “Alias Boston Blackie” (1942)

Alias Boston Blackie doesn’t really employ the good cheer of its holiday backdrop for any thematic heft throughout its brisk 67 minute runtime. But the visual and audial reminders that this crime caper is set over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are so constant, it looks and feels more like a Christmas movie than many […]

Holiday Classics: “Babes in Toyland” (1934)

The ownership and copyright history of the 1934 adaptation of Babes in Toyland is almost unfathomably complicated to reiterate here. Producer Hal Roach sold the film to the Victor Herbert estate (Hebert composed the 1903 operetta upon which the film was based) in 1944. The movie’s copyright was reassigned, and a color remake planned that […]

Review: “Avatar: Fire and Ash”

Almost every entry in director James Cameron’s filmography marks a massive technological leap forward for cinema. Terminator 2: Judgement Day contains the first entirely computer-generated character. Titanic— the most expensive film ever made at the time of its release— merges old school epic storytelling and practical effects with computerized visuals to great impact. Avatar broke […]

Review: “The Voice of Hind Rajab”

It’s difficult to rate a film that dramatizes a real life event that is so recent and raw, and the product of a conflict that is still ongoing. It’s also difficult to deny the daring nature and beating heart of The Voice of Hind Rajab, which opens with the following title card: “The film is […]

Holiday Classics: “The Apartment” (1960)

No other Christmas film, no matter how bleak, walks quite as delicate a line between pathos and pleasure as Billy Wilder’s bittersweet 1960 comedy The Apartment. The film centers around C.C. “Bud” Baxter (Jack Lemmon), a lonely pushover who works as an office drone at a New York City insurance company. He allows his managers […]

Holiday Classics: “Our Vines Have Tender Grapes” (1945)

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes is exactly the sort of heart-warming family drama MGM excelled at. That may make it sound overly trite and sentimental, but the film is crafted with such earnest sincerity, from its skilled performances to its charming vintage production design, in which studio soundstages stand in for rural Wisconsin. That’s where […]

Holiday Classics: “Backfire” (1950)

The bulk of the action in Backfire may occur over the early days of January, but the holidays are a recurring backdrop over the course of this 1950 noir directed by Vincent Sherman. Gordon MacRae (in only his third feature film and on the brink of becoming a big musical star) and genre staple Edmond […]