Category Archives: Movies

Review: Ash Is Purest White

Posted on September 7, 2019 by philipbrasor

Though it’s tempting to call his latest film a return to form, Jia Zhangke’s output since his last critically acknowledged masterpiece, Still Life (2006), mainly shows an artist grappling with his place in his own world, meaning China. For the … Continue reading →

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Review: Us

Posted on September 5, 2019 by philipbrasor

Jordan Peele’s Get Out was so on point about its sociopolitical subtext that many critics gave it a pass on its plotting, which, especially toward the end, became stiff and formulaic. It’s clear that Peele has a talent for horror … Continue reading →

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Review: Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Posted on August 30, 2019 by philipbrasor

Technically speaking, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth feature is a historical movie, and he’s said it follows in that genre concept the same as his other so-called “revisionist” movies, Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds, did. The main and vital difference is that … Continue reading →

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Review: Rocketman

Posted on August 23, 2019 by philipbrasor

This is the second big budget biopic of a major flamboyant 1970s male rock musician who eventually came out as gay to be released within the last year, and while the differences between Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman are notable, the … Continue reading →

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Peter Fonda interview, 2002

Posted on August 19, 2019 by philipbrasor

Here is an interview I did with Peter Fonda in 2002 for the Japan Times on the occasion of the rerelease of a restored version of his directing debut, The Hired Hand. For the sake of context, I should mention … Continue reading →

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Review: The Price of Everything

Posted on August 15, 2019 by philipbrasor

There are few capitalist recreactions as confounding and uninteresting to the hoi polloi as investing in art. Though everyone understands the concept and can perhaps appreciate the economic dynamic at work, most people find the effort involved, not to mention … Continue reading →

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Review: Carmine Street Guitars

Posted on August 10, 2019 by philipbrasor

As fly-on-the-wall documentaries go, Ron Mann’s small-scaled portrait of a venerable Greenwich Village guitar shop should make even Frederick Wiseman green with envy. Due to its location and hard won reputation, Carmine Street Guitars can expect quite a few celebrity … Continue reading →

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Review: Peterloo

Posted on August 8, 2019 by philipbrasor

As he approaches the twilight of his career, Mike Leigh, perhaps the best and certainly the most idiosyncratic of British filmmakers, has increasingly turned to history to explore his feelings about what it means to be English. His two most … Continue reading →

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Review: Welcome to Marwen

Posted on July 20, 2019 by philipbrasor

It’s easy to see why Robert Zemeckis was attracted to the true-life story of Mark Hogancamp. Zemeckis’s brief since the Back to the Future series has been fantasy that comments on who we are right now, “we” being invariably Americans. … Continue reading →

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Review: The Old Man & the Gun

Posted on July 12, 2019 by philipbrasor

David Lowery’s career so far has produced one of the weirdest bodies of work of any young director: the 70s pastiche Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, the surprisingly affecting family-friendly fantasy Pete’s Dragon, and the ambitious occult-psychological study A Ghost Story. His … Continue reading →

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