Rating: RRuntime: 2 hours, 28 minutes Director: Edward Berger Quick Impressions: In June of 2020, my daughter and I watched the 1930 Best Picture winner All Quiet on the Western Front. Then I read Erich Maria Remarque’s novel (in English, the A.W. Wheen translation). I found both a bit too …
Rating: NC-17Runtime: 2 hours, 47 minutesDirector: Andrew Dominik Quick Impressions:First of all, I see no justification for this movie being rated NC-17. I’ve seen R-rated movies with far more graphic/disturbing content. (I tried to list some, and my brain immediately suggested, “Killer Joe, Blue is the Warmest Color, Midnight Cowboy.” …
Rating: PG-13 Runtime: 3 hours, 12 minutes Director: James Cameron Quick Impressions: I wasn’t excited to see this movie. When I heard the new Avatar was finally about to come out, my first thought was, “Really?” and my second thought was, “Oh no.” I had a vague desire to see …
Rating: PG-13Runtime: 2 hours, 39 minutes Director: Baz Luhrmann Quick Impressions: When my sister visited last summer, I tried in vain to convince everyone to see this as a family bonding activity, but they all countered with, “Instead, why don’t we bond by not doing that?” And so instead of …
Rating: R Runtime: 2 hours, 38 minutes Director: Todd Field Quick Impressions: I loved this movie. I had low expectations (despite my love for Cate Blanchett) because the trailers made it look dull and obscure (like you would watch the whole thing and still have no idea why you had). …
Rating: R Runtime: 1 hour, 57 minutes Director: Darren Aronofsky Quick Impressions:My husband has lost eighty pounds since April. On the way home from the theater, I said to him, “That was probably like a horror movie for you.” He said, “It hit pretty close to home—probably for you, too.” …
Rating: R Runtime: 1 hour, 54 minutes Director: Martin McDonagh Quick Impressions:The other day, my sister said to me, “So we watched the Irish movie with Colin Farrell, and I’ve never seen anything more Irish in my life. It’s good but super depressing.” If she wrote this review, it would …
Rating: PG-13Runtime: 2 hours, 31 minutes Director: Steven Spielberg Quick Impressions:On the drive home as we discussed the movie, my about-to-turn fourteen-year-old daughter said, “You wouldn’t be hurt, would you, if I said the mother/son relationship reminded me of me and you?” And I answered, “Nope. It made me think …
Rating: RRuntime: 2 hours, 19 minutesDirectors: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert Quick Impressions:This movie has been out all year, so I originally planned not to write a review. But then I wrote a review of Babylon and decided, “You know, I’m just in a review writing mood.” I feel like …
Rating: RRuntime: 3 hours, 9 minutesDirector: Damien Chazelle Quick Impressions:The kids and I just read A Christmas Carol aloud together, and now, taking a page from Ebenezer Scrooge, I’m making a crazed, eleventh-hour scramble to catch up on all the movies I need to see before Oscar nominations are announced. …
