FACE/OFF (1997)
We have met the enemy and he is me, as I use a MAGA conspiracy theory as an excuse to introduce Nakea to John Woo's preposterous action thriller.
THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939)
As my Independent Study in World Cinema continues, I dive deep into Jean Renoir's tragicomic critique of French society on the eve of the Second World War.
WEEK 7:
THE BEST SLAYED PLANS
In which I offer quick takes on stuff I've been watching (including Judas and the Black Messiah, Saint Maud, and Clarice), and explain at some length why I won't be writing about Buffy the Vampire Slayer this year after all.
DEADWOOD 1×11:
"JEWEL'S BOOT IS MADE FOR WALKING"
The penultimate episode of Deadwood's first season examines selfishness, sacrifice, and the ongoing problem of shitheels.
WEEK 6: BURIED
This week's blog/newsletter features some labored thoughts on the writing process, and quick takes on The Dig, Malcolm & Marie, The Little Things, I May Destroy You, and other things I've been watching.
OTHER RECENT POSTS
BLOG
WEEK 4: CABIN FEVER
In this week's edition of my blog/newsletter, I share some melancholy thoughts from the 11th month of lockdown, as well as quick takes on One Night in Miami and News of the World.
January 26, 2021
DEADWOOD
DEADWOOD 1×10:
"MISTER WU"
As a new social order is forming in Deadwood, a very funny episode explores issues of caste, transgression, and alienation.
January 23, 2021
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
RISKY BUSINESS (1983)
Sometimes, The Unenthusiastic Critic just has to say "What the f——." So on this week's episode, we're watching Tom Cruise's breakout movie Risky Business (1983).
January 21, 2021
BLOG
WEEK 3: IMPEACHY KEEN
In this week's edition of my blog/newsletter, I'm offering quick takes on Promising Young Woman, Pretend It's a City, WandaVision, Locked Down, and a bunch of other stuff I was watching when I should have been writing.
January 18, 2021
DEADWOOD
DEADWOOD 1×09:
"NO OTHER SONS OR DAUGHTERS"
New clothes, new pianos, new ventures, new relationships, new governments: On a relatively quiet episode, everyone in DEADWOOD is grappling with the possibility of change.
January 15, 2021
BLOG
WEEK 2: SEDITION EDITION
In this week's blog/newsletter, I share a few thoughts on the white supremacist attack on Washington D.C., as well as a few links to the thoughts of much smarter people than I.
January 11, 2021
DEADWOOD
DEADWOOD 1×08:
"SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN"
After many years, I'm taking up my Deadwood reviews right where I left off, with an episode that asks whether this brutal place could possibly be a place where family can thrive.
January 10, 2021
BLOG
WEEK 1: NEW YEAR, OLD HABITS
This week's blog post/newsletter includes quick thoughts on Sylvie's Love, Doctor Who, and Dickinson, as well as some thoughts on the difference between making New Year's Resolutions and implementing them.
January 4, 2021
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
THE SILENT PARTNER (1978)
We're finishing our "Christmas-Adjacent" marathon with Daryl Duke's unjustly forgotten crime thriller.
December 29, 2020
BLOG
WEEK 52: TAINT MISBEHAVIN'
In the first of a new weekly blog series (and ersatz newsletter), I discuss what I've been watching, and writing about, and thinking about, during 2020's "Holiday Taint."
December 28, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
CHILDREN OF MEN (2006)
The Unenthusiastic Critic watches the perfect movie for Christmas 2020: Alfonso Cuarón's dystopian (but strangely hopeful) nativity story.
December 24, 2020
BLOG
MAKING GOD LAUGH: THE UNAFFILIATED CRITIC'S PLAN FOR 2021
In which—brazenly, and despite a poor track record at this sort of thing—I announce what I'm planning to review, and other changes coming in the new year.
December 21, 2020
INDEPENDENT STUDY IN WORLD CINEMA
GRAND ILLUSION (1937)
My long neglected Independent Study in World Cinema resumes with Jean Renoir's unfailingly humane masterpiece.
December 15, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
MOONSTRUCK (1987)
The Unenthusiastic Critic is looking for the holiday spirit in Norman Jewison's Christmas-adjacent romantic comedy.
December 8, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957)
This #Noirvember, we're serving a cookie full of arsenic, as The Unenthusiastic Critic enjoys her first viewing of Alexander Mackendrick's cynical cinematic masterpiece.
November 29, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
In 1990, Kevin Costner's epic western was widely hailed as major progress in Hollywood's representation of indigenous people. But what will The Unenthusiastic Critic make of it 30 years later?
November 17, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
THE STRANGERS (2008)
There's no place like home, as The Unenthusiastic Critic's 2020 Halloween Movie Marathon concludes with Bryan Bertino's harrowing home-invasion thriller.
October 29, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
HEREDITARY (2018)
What's scarier than family? So we're talking about Ari Aster's breakthrough horror movie this week, as The Unenthusiastic Critic's Halloween movie marathon continues.
October 23, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
REBECCA (1940)
We're headed back to Manderley as The Unenthusiastic Critic's 2020 Halloween Movie Marathon continues with Hitchcock's Oscar-winning suspense classic.
October 15, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (2001)
The Unenthusiastic Critic's Halloween Movie Marathon continues with Guillermo del Toro's classic wartime ghost story.
October 8, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
PHANTASM (1979)
The Unenthusiastic Critic's 2020 Halloween Movie Marathon gets underway with a viewing of a creepy cult classic.
October 1, 2020
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
IT'S A "STRANGE CASE" OF JEKYLL IN HYDE PARK ON A CHALLENGING LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
Questions of identity, duality, and transformation abound in a disturbing and surprisingly complicated episode of Lovecraft Country.
September 22, 2020
THE UNENTHUSIASTIC CRITIC
DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995)
This week we're revisiting Carl Franklin's sorely under-appreciated neo-noir, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this month.
September 14, 2020
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY GETS LOST DOWN A GIANT PLOT HOLE IN "A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE"
With its weakest hour yet, Lovecraft Country turns in a story that is at turns dull, derivative, and disturbing (but not in a good way).
September 12, 2020