By Jackson Diianni The Wrestler (2008) immerses us in the life of Randy “the Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), an aging ex-professional wrestler who has fallen on hard times. Randy seems to have lost the ability to regulate what is healthy for him and he struggles to maintain a meaningful relationship with anyone in his life. … Continue reading
By Jackson Diianni Michael Mann’s Thief (1948) begins with a ten-minute scene depicting a bank heist. Frank (James Caan), a master safecracker, breaks into a vault and steals a set of priceless diamonds. He doesn’t trip any alarms, he doesn’t leave any trace. He and his cohorts disappear into the night undetected. Cut to the … Continue reading
By Jackson Diianni Richard Linklater is a rule-breaker. I knew that going into Before Midnight (2014), so I should have kept an open mind. I was expecting it to be like its predecessors, and even though it follows the same formula (wandering, dialogue-driven romance), it deviates wildly in tone. The rule of threes would dictate … Continue reading
By Jackson Diianni The Age of Innocence (1993) is something of a departure for Martin Scorsese, who has made a career directing violent crime movies. Yet there is something about it that is not unlike the worlds of Raging Bull (1980), Mean Streets (1973) and Goodfellas (1990). Where those movies were about characters living in … Continue reading
By Jackson Diianni Django Unchained (2012) gives us a superhero in place of a slave. It’s a film that mocks racism, slavery and white supremacy in the most masturbatory way possible. The point is that people can go to the movies and see Jamie Foxx kicking a slave-owner’s ass, or see the KKK fumbling with … Continue reading
By Jackson Diianni Although usually regarded as one of the worst Best Picture winners, Crash (2004) is not without support. Probably its most famous defender is Roger Ebert, who gave it a perfect 4/4 review. He calls it a movie of “intense fascination”, explaining that, “not many films have the possibility of making their audiences … Continue reading
By Jackson Diianni Hunger (2008) is a superb showcase of acting and filmmaking technique, yet I didn’t feel satisfied when it was over. To be fair, it’s not a traditional film. Hunger is a 24-minute dialogue scene bookended by 72 minutes of wordless storytelling. That one dialogue scene is spectacular, maybe the best I’ve ever … Continue reading
By Jackson Diianni Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful (2010) is one of the most affecting films of the 21st Century, which makes me wonder how it could possibly have slipped so silently under the radar. To me, this film is a masterpiece, but I seem to be the only one who thinks so. It got mediocre … Continue reading
by Jackson Diianni There aren’t a lot of movies that can accurately capture what it feels like to be a kid. A Christmas Story does it pretty well. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory does it too, but The Sandlot really excels at it. It’s a story told entirely in flashback, from the perspective of … Continue reading
by Jackson Diianni After I watched Superbad, a friend of mine told me that the script was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg when they were just 13 years old. To be honest, I wasn’t that surprised to hear that this movie was written by middle-schoolers. The plot revolves around two teenagers who are … Continue reading
