Visual effects maestro Phil Tippett's Mad God is a visionary achievement of stop-motion animation decades in the making. The grim, bodily fluid-filled gem takes place in a post-apocalyptic wonderland, a world that Tippett has fully realized with meticulous details. The brutal violence and crudity of the film will alienate many. Judging by some Letterboxd reviews, it already has. For the rest of us, Mad God is one of the most awe-inspiring animated features around. Tippett finishing the film and it…
Favorite films
Recent activity
AllPinned reviews
More-
-
Je, tu, il, elle 1974
The reason I have fallen so madly in love with Chantal Akerman's work is the unparalleled understanding and empathy with which she handles mental illness, loneliness and malaise. There is no greater auteur of sorrow and isolation. When we meet Julie, her character in Je, tu, il, elle, she is quietly experiencing a psychotic break alone in her apartment after a breakup. She paints her walls, rewrites the same letter repeatedly, and reduces herself to eating powdered sugar for sustenance.…
Recent reviews
More-
Words and Pictures 2013
I watched Words and Pictures because Jonathan Rosenbaum includes it in his personal canon. Rosenbaum is among the greatest critics around, but I'm baffled as to what merit he saw in such a profusely unlikable dramedy. Fred Schepisi's film mistakes being verbose for being witty and intelligent. Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche, each fabulous actors, have no chemistry at all, though perhaps the script is at fault there as well. Making matters worse, the movie is horribly overlong. The contrived premise centers on teachers staging a battle, words vs. pictures. In Words and Pictures, I liked neither.
-
Western 2017
Valeska Grisebach's Western could be considered a western of sorts, I suppose, though certainly not in a textbook John Ford way. The film is made well enough, yet lacks for entertainment value, running out of momentum to sustain a two-hour runtime. I cannot say that I disliked the film, which is nicely photographed in its Bulgarian environment, but it wore down my patience.
Popular reviews
More-
Dave Chappelle: The Closer 2021
I debated not even speaking on The Closer, because first of all, I absolutely do not want to take away from anyone in my own community who is hurt or offended by this special. You absolutely have a right to express your feelings and be heard. Please share your perspective! All I can do is speak from my own experience as someone who has been a fan of Dave Chappelle for a very long time and, within the past year,…
-
There's Someone Inside Your House 2021
Even for a teen slasher, There's Someone Inside Your House is woefully uninspired. Patrick Brice's film attempts to use horror to address cancel culture ... at least until it forgets about that angle pretty quickly, which is just as well since it was eye-rolling and poorly developed in the first place, as the movie has nothing meaningful to say on any topic. In actuality, the political framing is just a gimmick to paint a very, very thin coat of fresh…
