A Ghost Story – 2017

David Lowery is an up-and-coming director and if it was in doubt before, this film proves it. The film might seem like a ridiculous concept, a ghost who is literally a sheet, but it never feels absurd and it is a truly heart-warming film about the love shared between a husband and wife, even after […]

Akira – 1988

Anime is a form of animation that originates from Japan. It isn’t my favorite animation style, but it is fairly realistic. Akira turns Tokyo into a nuclear wasteland, where motorcycle gangs battle each other nightly and the police shoot resistance members daily. The film also explores the concept of human evolution as scientist experiment on […]

Arsenic and Old Lace – 1944

There’s a lot of truth to the idea that screwball comedies were better in the forties, because really they were. Cary Grant is a great actor, but he isn’t his usual reserved self in this film. Here he’s an exasperated man trying to cover up a series of murders committed by his elderly aunts. His […]

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – 1963

When Stanley Kramer drove a thief into the desert and let him flip his car and die, he started a chain reaction of destruction that created a hilarious romp with unforseen consequences. The film takes the idea of buried treasure and modernizes it by having a thief hide treasure and he reveals the location to […]

The Illusionist – 2010

Jacques Tati was a revolutionary in the world of comedy and there are numerous tributes to him in films and television. None is more significant than The Illusionist, a film written by Tati towards the end of his career. This film pays tribute to Tati in a number of ways, chiefly the relationship the title […]

Election – 1999

As my love affair with Alexander Payne continues, I have chosen to watch Election. An indictment of high school cliches and of the democratic process, this film pits a socially conscious high school teacher against an overachieving student. The plot mostly revolves around Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) slowly derailing his own life in order to […]