Glenn has written 171 reviews for films rated .
-
-
Last Night in Soho 2021
Starts off really strong but quickly fades. Still, it's nice to see a film with actual cinematic images, lighting, and blocking.
-
-
No Sudden Move 2021
Not without many interesting elements and mostly a lot of fun but wafer thin and feels like a noir poser to me. It's no Devil in a Blue Dress.
-
Black Widow 2021
I'm shocked to say that I actually liked this quite a bit. No stupid cameos, never beholden to the overall MCU arc, and features four solid actors with genuine chemistry. The action goes from clunky to seamless sometimes in the same scene. But overall this felt very genuine and dedicated to the conflicts and tensions shared between the characters, and gave agency to those broken and violent personalities who so often have to battle for screen time in this god forsaken saga.
-
True Crime 1999
Even in grimy low-brow mode Clint still manages to tap into a vein of pure urgency, emotion, and redemption.
-
Dawn of the Dead 2004
As a calling card for Hollywood this is impressive. Efficient, nasty, fun, and not trying to be anything like Romero's masterpiece. Really excited for Army of the Dead.
-
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar 2021
Very fun. Everyone looks like they're having a blast and right now that means a lot. Especially, Jamie Dornan who is just going for it here and having a really lovely post-50 SHADES career.
-
Atlantis 2019
For about an hour this was chugging along like a bleak all-timer: an effective and skillful autopsy of post-war aftermath, poison, and degeneration. Then it stalls out with notions of hope and renewal before descending into some truly inexplicable sentimental nonsense in the final scene. Still, quite the formal achievement even if it is essentially ripping off Tarr and Tarkovsky.
-
-
Wasp Network 2019
Lacks the sexiness, verve, or mystique of my favorite Assayas films. But it definitely has the director's sense of endless yearning for something unattainable (in this case political victory, family, and valediction). Admittedly, really clunky and at times tedious, but overall it gets at the heart of how people can be radicalized over time, through not only a national propaganda machine but out of fear of their own weaknesses. I'm surprised more critics didn't rally around Cruz's performance in the FYC discussion, because she's phenomenal, the film's spine, soul, and heart all in one.
-
Virtuosity 1995
The mid-90s were fucking wild. This and Johnny Mnemonic came out in the same summer movie season, and it's hard to express how incredible it was to see both of these pre-Internet barbarians projected on 35mm at 14. Denzel is so committed here despite the super silly plot, and makes for a great foil to Russell Crowe's serial killing software come to life. As with most of the VR/web-influenced films from this era, predicts a lot of the voyeuristic tendencies, capitalist evil, and online masochism that was to come.