Frances Ha – 2012

There are some movies that are just awkward. It doesn’t prevent them from being good, it just makes them a little harder to watch. Frances Ha is one of those movies. Greta Gerwig gives a powerful performance as the perpetually struggling Frances and Noah Baumbach never feels like he’s at a loss in directing her […]

Blind Chance – 1987

Kieślowski is a master of human nature. In Blind Chance, he takes a man grieving over the death of his father and send him to catch a train. It is here that the story diverges into three separate sequences. Each one is unique and each one exploits the grief of the protagonist into doing something […]

The Iron Giant – 1999

The gentle giant is a pretty standard trope in literature and film. From Lenny in Of Mice and Men to King Kong, they exist in every genre and have existed since the birth of film. The Iron Giant takes the gentle giant and turns him into a conflicted war machine whose base instinct threatens to […]

Toy Story 2 – 1999

Sequels are always a risk. There are dozens of occurrences that have failed and ruined the reputation of the original. The Toy Story franchise has fostered a reputation for creating sequels that were as good, if not better, than the prior installment. The first Toy Story movie is about the rivalry between Buzz and Woody, […]

Up – 2009

The most heartbreaking 10 minutes of any movie might be the beginning of Up. The love story created by this film is beautiful and wonderful and also depressing. This film is one of the great joys of my life and I could watch it repeatedly. One of the problems with animated movies is the static […]

Fantasia – 1940

Walt Disney was a revolutionary, there is no way around it. Back in the thirties he had an idea to combine classical music with animation. Many scoffed at the idea, but he went through with it anyway and the result was fantastic. There are several notable sequences throughout, but the most noteworthy are “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” […]