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 […]

The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

It’s all a matter of time. You hear about a film, you see it pop up (particularly if it’s in the public domain – so everywhere, public access TV, crappy DVDs, free on YouTube), and know that at some point you’ll eventually see it. The Hitch-Hiker (1953) was always beckoning on the side of the […]

Nenette And Boni (1996)

Tactile, melancholic, sensuous, elliptical. It’s hard to describe the effect that Nenette And Boni (1996) had on me. Directed by Claire Denis, and co-written by Denis and her collaborator Jean-Pol Fargeau, the story is about a brother and sister living in Marseilles. The experience of the movie is that it gives you pieces of 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 […]

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 […]