Category Archives: Movies

Revew: Incredibles 2

Posted on August 2, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though Pixar and Marvel are two separate production companies, both are distributed by Disney, a context that becomes problematic as the sequel to one of the best Pixar movies ever begins. The superhero Parr family battles a villain called the … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Review: Machines

Posted on July 21, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though more photographically distinctive than the Go Pro-recorded factory ship documentary, Leviathan, Rahul Jain’s meticulous study of a huge textile factory in Gujarat, India, is similarly obsessed with the process of labor and how mechanization complements human actions rather than … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Review: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Posted on July 20, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though it wasn’t necessarily inevitable that the Jurassic Park franchise would get this far 25 years after it began, it was inevitable that if it did get this far the animals themselves would be portrayed as victims rather than whatever … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Review: Godard Mon Amour

Posted on July 17, 2018 by philipbrasor

On the surface, Michel Hazanavicius’s decision to adapt a chapter in Jean-Luc Godard’s love life as a romantic comedy makes a certain amount of sense given the early New Wave crowd’s love of classic Hollywood screwball comedies, but Hazanavicius invariably … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Review: Liberation Day

Posted on July 15, 2018 by philipbrasor

There are actually too many intriguing premises for this spiky documentary directed by two Scandinavians. The overall premise is compelling enough: a Slovenian art-rock band becomes the first foreign pop outfit to play a concert in Pyongyang that’s approved by … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Review: Battle of the Sexes

Posted on July 7, 2018 by philipbrasor

Movies that realistically depict the 1970s force those of us who remember the decade as firsthand observers to slog through several layers of subtext. Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton’s film covers one of the seminal “progressive” events of that time, … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Review: Right Now, Wrong Then

Posted on July 2, 2018 by philipbrasor

Hong Sang-soo’s Right Now, Wrong Then, released in South Korea in 2015, is finally opening in Japan, though it should be mentioned that Hong’s films are not temporally fixed. Current events or even trends have absolutely no purchase on his … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Review: Winchester

Posted on June 29, 2018 by philipbrasor

During the horror film’s formative heyday in the 80s, trashiness was next to godliness. Perhaps by necessity, the gory goings-on were delivered via hilariously ridiculous plots that were gentle on whatever degree of intelligence was brought to the proceedings. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged | Leave a comment

Review: Wonder Wheel

Posted on June 25, 2018 by philipbrasor

It’s often difficult to tell with Woody Allen where the satire ends and the pretension begins. The narrator of Wonder Wheel is a would-be writer named Mickey (Justin Timberlake), who toots his own horn often enough while relating the sad … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Review: Only the Brave

Posted on June 23, 2018 by philipbrasor

Though stuffed to the gills with macho signifiers and the sentimentalized homoerotic comradeship of men in peril, this action film about the job of forest firefighting is notable for the way it incorporates the minutiae of the job into a … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies | Tagged , | Leave a comment