Most movies work to increase the stakes in order to enhance the drama. For some reason, I feel like Akira Kurosawa movies come with that epic thematic relevance built in, and instead are always striving to personalize the large scale conflict. War, in the world of Kagemusha is something much much larger than people. It's always spiraling out of control, and never is that idea more powerful than when we literally see the stoic leader transform into a completely different…

“If you wish to continue living, you will be a walrus or you will be nothing at all.”

After being turned off by the reviews for 6 years, I can now proudly say that this is awesome, actually? Wasn't everyone's main issue with The Human Centipede that it wasn't quite campy enough? Maybe I'm giving Kevin Smith too much credit (I haven't actually listened to the podcast that birthed this idea), but I love the way he skewers the whole…

If nothing else, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is successful in delivering a raucous adventure by letting the actors hold the awe and excitement of the iconic franchise on their faces. Daisy RIdley, especially, has this wide-eyed wonder that shows she's not just someone caught up in an epic hero's journey, but someone who knows the characters of the original trilogy and loves them. It is a clear meta-homage, but doesn't feel like fan fiction the way lesser reboots often…

Hillary Swank and Chloë Sevigny deserve the praise for their performances. And Kimberly Peirce's more artful touches (time lapse of the Oklahoma landscape, an overexposed disassociation during a traumatic event, jumping back and forth through time as someone tells a story) are beautifully chosen. This was so early in the mainstream narrative about gender identity that I was a bit surprised how matter-of-fact it is about certain things. Brandon goes by a few different names in this, but the movie…