Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) was, thankfully, one of the least whimsical of the Coen Brothers films; a story of ellipses and evasions, chronicling not the expected rise and fall of a folk musician, but simply a moment in time now lost to history. More a character adrift than one with an ultimate destination. Unlike the…

The best animated feature of the year? I was not planning on going to see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. I assumed it was going to be a throw-away film aimed specifically at comic book nerds to make an easy buck. Then, my wife asked if I was taking our six-year old son and, before I…

Mountain (2017) Before I wind up the 2018 Ruthless Christmas Reviews, I’m taking a brief break. This review continues our reviews about mountains and humans that try to climb them. In his recent review, Kevin continued the Ruthless disdain for mountain climbers, rock climbers and other dare-devils that foolishly fuck with Mother Nature with Free…

Do not try this at home. Or ANYWHERE! Free Solo sounds like the sequel to this year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story; the harrowing tale of a band of ragtag rebels trying to free Han Solo from his service to Jabba the Hutt. In truth, Free Solo is nearly the perfect opposite of that. Free…

You gotta love the idealism. In an effort to watch more documentaries this year than the zero I watched last year, Science Fair is the second I have watched (the first being the excellent Won’t You Be My Neighbor) so far. I was very interested in Science Fair because I can relate to the high…

Suspiria (2018) What year is it? (Award season consideration has returned, so my mini-reviews are back as well. Enjoy as I rapid-fire them at you through the end of the year.) I am not quite sure what to make of Suspiria. [Here is link to Matt’s review of the original] On one hand, I found…

It’s such a good feeling. A feeling you know. Fred Rogers believed that most television programming in the 1960s – especially the content aimed at children – was loud and distracting drivel. It was entertainment at the expense of others – pies in the face, slippery banana peels, and stupidity that was intended to get…