Fantastic Mr. Fox – 2009

Wes Anderson is a master of human nature, he utilizes quirks and eccentricities in every film he makes. This one is no exception. The idea of a stop-motion film from Anderson might have seemed far-fetched, but it is assuredly not. This film takes all of the fantastical elements from his films and puts them into […]

Jour de Fête – 1949

Jacques Tati was a comedic master. His films exploited the simplicity of life and the conflict that occurred as new technological innovations came into play. Jour de Fête is no exception and it isn’t here that he got a taste for the slapstick comedy that defined his career. Here he is Francois the mailman, who […]

Watership Down – 1978

Bunnies. Bunnies trying to kill each other. Watership Down is a great book and the movie version lives up to the same hype as the book. There are, of course, small deviations and slight condensations, but overall it is the same. The film version is animated, which was pretty much the only way to do […]

The Fisher King – 1991

Mental illness is challenging to portray on film. It is often seen as insensitive to have someone who isn’t mentally ill portray a severe mental illness, but the severely mentally ill usually aren’t in a position to appear on screen in that capacity. This means that it falls to truly talented actors to take up […]

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 […]