Coming-of-Age

LADY BIRD

Agitprop, Biopic, Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, Corporate Corruption, Cult Film, Current Affairs, Feminist Cinema, LGBTQ, Politics, sex, , Women's Cinema, ZERO STARS

August 31, 2024

Lady Bird is a KAREN. The fact is indisputable and undeniable. Racist, homophobic, lazy, petty, selfish, sociopathic, disloyal, and dishonest,…

BRATS

Classic Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Corporate Corruption, Criterion Collection, Cult Film, Documentary, FIVE STARS, Hollywood, Media, Reviews Blog, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Drama, sex, , Video Essay, Women's Cinema

June 23, 2024

Andrew McCarthy crafts an exquisitely satisfying base-touching expedition with his Gen X comrades, whose careers suffered as a result of…

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Comedy, Coming-of-Age, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Midnight Movies, Music, Punk, Rock 'n' Roll, sex, Women's Cinema

June 9, 2024

That the Punk band from NYC were soaking up California rays while making the movie, only adds to the fun…

BARBIE

Agitprop, BDSM, Children's Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Corporate Corruption, Cult Film, Dance, Exploitation, Fantasy, Hollywood, Musical, Propaganda, Reviews Blog, sex, Sexploitation, War, ZERO STARS

November 25, 2023

Preachy, insipid, wrongheaded, and mean-spirited, “Barbie” is by far the worst movie (or more accurately, commercial) I have ever witnessed.…

SAM NOW

American Independent, Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, Documentary, FIVE STARS, sex, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema

November 14, 2023

It may be a bitter pill, but this brilliant movie conveys things that only documentary Cinema can capture and express.…

THE EXORCIST: THE VERSION YOU’VE NEVER SEEN — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Cult Film, FIVE STARS, Horror, Magical Realism, Political Satire, Religion, Sexploitation, SHOCKTOBER!, Transgressive Cinema, Women's Cinema

October 23, 2023

On the day after Christmas in 1973, Oscar-winning director William Friedkin followed up the tremendous success he enjoyed with “The…

PANIC ROOM — SHOCKTOBER!

Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, FOUR STARS, SHOCKTOBER!, , Thriller, Women's Cinema

October 23, 2023

Director David Fincher’s “Panic Room” opens with a sumptuous credit sequence so captivating that you’re drawn into the movie before…

THE FACULTY —SHOCKTOBER!

Black Comedy, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Cult Film, Dystopia, FIVE STARS, Horror, LGBTQ, SHOCKTOBER!, , Women's Cinema

October 14, 2023

Great energy, great story, great tone, “The Faculty” is a truly great movie. I already want to watch it again.…

PERSON TO PERSON

African American Cinema, Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, FOUR STARS, Independent Cinema, LGBTQ, Women's Cinema

September 4, 2023

Writer/director Dustin Guy Defa creates a gem of a New York City chamber piece with “Person To Person.” Cole Smithey.

THE FABELMANS

Academy Awards, Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, Drama, Filmmaking, FIVE STARS, Hollywood, Religion, Romantic Drama, sex

January 1, 2023

“The Fabelmans” is a memoir imagined. It is an important artistic achievement that wears its heart on its cotton sleeve.…

RUSHMORE — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Capsules Blog, Comedy, Coming-of-Age, Criterion Collection, FOUR STARS

April 24, 2022

Before Wes Anderson became a pale imitation of himself, he made a splashy sophomore comedy with punch. Cole Smithey.

ST. VINCENT

Capsules Blog, Comedy, Coming-of-Age, FOUR STARS

March 14, 2022

“St. Vincent” is a formula coming-of-age comedy that tics all the boxes. While it might not be a masterpiece, it…

SMOOTH TALK — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, Criterion Collection, FIVE STARS, sex, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

February 28, 2022

Joyce Chopra’s no-nonsense adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” is an…

PAPER MOON

Black and White, Capsules Blog, Classic Cinema, Coming-of-Age, FIVE STARS, Hollywood, Literary Adaptation, Women's Cinema

February 17, 2022

Peter Bogdanovich’s 1973 adaptation of “Addie Pray” (by Joe David Brown) is in black and white, like his first film…

THE SONG OF SWAY LAKE

Coming-of-Age, ONE STAR, Reviews Blog

October 15, 2018

Notable for being Elizabeth Peña’s last film before the actress’s untimely death in 2014, “The Song of Sway Lake” is…

LADY BIRD — REVISITED

Coming-of-Age, Corporate Corruption, Hollywood, Reviews Blog, , Video Essay, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema, ZERO STARS

December 7, 2017

Lady Bird is a KAREN. The fact is indisputable and undeniable. Racist, homophobic, lazy, petty, selfish, sociopathic, disloyal, and dishonest,…

LADY BIRD — REVISITED

Capsules Blog, Coming-of-Age, Podcast, Women Filmmakers, Women's Cinema

November 24, 2017

Lady Bird is a KAREN. The fact is indisputable and undeniable. Racist, homophobic, lazy, petty, selfish, sociopathic, disloyal, and dishonest…

I LOVE YOU, DADDY

Black and White, Comedy, Coming-of-Age, ONE STAR, Reviews Blog

November 14, 2017

Louis C.K.’s filmic send up of Woody Allen’s films, and [offhandedly] Allen’s reputation as a pedophile, would have been a…

WONDERSTRUCK — NYFF 55

Capsules Blog, Children's Cinema, Coming-of-Age, Drama, Literary Adaptation, New York Film Festival, ONE STAR

October 23, 2017

As I watched Todd Haynes’s latest film I kept asking myself, who is this movie for? It is not a…

IT

Coming-of-Age, Horror, ONE STAR, Psychological Thriller, Reviews Blog

September 9, 2017

The direction, editing, pacing, and tone are so off in director Andy Muschietti’s filmic adaptation of Stephen King’s child-led psychodrama…

COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

Coming-of-Age

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL

BARBIE

SAM NOW

THE EXORCIST: THE VERSION YOU’VE NEVER SEEN — SHOCKTOBER!

PERSON TO PERSON

THE FABELMANS

RUSHMORE — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

ST. VINCENT

SMOOTH TALK — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

PAPER MOON

THE SONG OF SWAY LAKE

LADY BIRD — REVISITED

I LOVE YOU, DADDY

WONDERSTRUCK — NYFF 55

IT

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COLE SMITHEY’S CLASSIC CINEMA

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