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 […]

Trancers (1984)

Flipping through video store magazines as a kid, I’d come across the occasional straight-to-video sequel advertised in its pages and wonder, “What is this film? There must be fans if they’ve made four or five of these!” It’s like another universe. Trancers (1984), like many a Full Moon production (an outfit I’m not that knowledgable […]

Project Space 13 (2021)

“You’re like art defenders… you ever see that movie, Monuments Men?” While I didn’t like George Clooney’s WWII drama, I did love it being referenced in the film, Project Space 13 (2021), spoken by an artist character named Nate (Keith Poulson) who is describing how he views the two heavily armed private security guards, Ace […]

The Missing Person (2009)

Michael Shannon and John Ventimiglia on the side of a dusty road talking for five minutes about what breed of dog Serpico had in the film Serpico is my idea of cinema, baby! That’s one scene from the neo-noir comedy-drama, The Missing Person (2009), which stars Michael Shannon as an alcoholic private eye named John […]