Support The Girls (2018)

A friend working in a video store (shout-out to Kirsten!) lent me a preview DVD that contained director Andrew Bujalski’s Funny Ha Ha. We both loved that movie and became mublecore fans. But there was always something about Bujalski, particularly now as his movies appear more like mainstream comedies like Results, he still retains a […]

Between The Lines (1977)

There’s something charmingly mellow about Between The Lines (1977). It’s not a broad comedy nor is it a hard hitting drama, but it is amiable and funny, with an air of inevitable sadness about work and compromise. Its subject determines the form in a sense. Set in the city of Boston, Between The Lines is […]

The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)

When I finally watched The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988), I understood clearly why director Penelope Spheeris was hired for Wayne’s World, and to understand even the head-banging culture that Wayne’s World was parodying. This was a decade where pop music was defined by metal’s popularity, from glam rock to […]

Smile (1975)

Smile (1975) is a forgotten satire about a beauty pageant in Santa Rosa, small town California, representative of the heartland. Written by Jerry Belson and directed by Michael Ritchie, there’s plenty of gags and one liners about the Young American Miss Pageant, which this movie observes, from the preparations to talent show routines to the […]

C’mon C’mon (2021)

I’m a Mike Mills guy. I wasn’t so much into Thumbsucker, but I became a fan through his autobiographical-inflected indie dramas like Beginners (based on his father) and especially 20th Century Women (based on his mother). I’m completely aware that some will dismiss Mills’ humanistic writing and design approach (complete with elegantly designed montages and […]