Midwest Film Journal

Although far from 2021's most beautiful in that space, the floating, amorphous animation affords fluid, arresting aesthetic choices of how language and memories fade - creating expressions of heartache that a live-action counterpart simply could not.

Posted Jan 31, 2022

The Piano (1993)

The Piano is without a doubt a work of Art - inscrutable at times, and not without its flaws, but constructed so confidently that they are, in the end, forgivable.

Posted Jan 30, 2022

Lust Life Love (2021)

An romantic drama powered by an authentic depiction of its subject subculture and good characters.

Posted Jan 28, 2022

Lockdown (2021)

I wish there was a little more exploitation to this pretty standard low-budget action thriller.

Posted Jan 26, 2022

Confession (2022)

A solid small-scale thriller.

Posted Jan 25, 2022

American Insurrection (The Volunteers) (2021)

A taught thriller with well-developed characters and a world that doesn't seem far from our own.

Posted Jan 23, 2022

Old Strangers (2022)

As an independent horror film with a coherent story and visual style that actually creates intense, engaging life-or-death sequences? Old Strangers succeeds.

Posted Jan 12, 2022

4.5/5

Drive My Car (2021)

Ultimately, "Drive My Car" asks what's more important in an emotional life - objective truth or subjective belief? No easy answer. Just rebuild, repair and return, over and over until we're gone. Beautifully shot, stunningly acted & 2021's best film.

Posted Jan 12, 2022

The 355 (2022)

Despite an all-star cast, this tepid action adventure leaves a lot to be desired.

Posted Jan 6, 2022

2.5/5

See For Me (2022)

For all of its first-act promise and admirable approach to representation by casting Skyler Davenport (who gives a strong performance), "See For Me" becomes tangled up in all the traditional tropes by the end - including monumentally dumb thieves.

Posted Jan 6, 2022

3.5/5

A Hero (2022)

Although Asghar Farhadi's latest film is less culturally specific and more predictable than his others, it remains a powerful and poignant story about getting lost inside a maze erected from misery of our own making.

Posted Jan 5, 2022

3.5/5

Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

It understands its targets represent a sort of sickness that no one should glamorize as the gold standard. No one may speak fondly for the spoof movie any longer, but "Not Another Teen Movie" still speaks loudly, clearly and intelligently for itself.

Posted Jan 4, 2022

4/5

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Among modern directors, there may be none better to embrace the tale's murderous absurdities than Joel Coen. There also are few finer to embody its specifically and sloppily male assertion of fiefdom than an emeritus alpha like Denzel Washington.

Posted Jan 4, 2022

Casino Royale (2006)

Bond the man and Bond the franchise simply never recovered from allowing Vesper Lynd to die.

Posted Dec 24, 2021

The Card Counter (2021)

The Card Counter works best as a showcase for Isaac, with material from Schrader tailor-made to elicit one of the year's greatest performances.

Posted Dec 22, 2021

Monsters in the Closet (2022)

A horror anthology that leans heavy on gross-out gags and crude humor. Some of the shorts are good, but it doesn't quite gel as a whole.

Posted Dec 22, 2021

4.5/5

Red Rocket (2021)

A silver-tongued, star-spangled swan dive into self-delusional splendor. Simon Rex gives the performance of the year and director / co-writer Sean Baker knows we are two nations under smog, easily divisible, with misery (and rarely justice) for all.

Posted Dec 22, 2021

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

A disappointing and muddled return to the franchise that lacks the grit and urgency of the originals.

Posted Dec 21, 2021

Inheritance, Italian Style (2014)

An endearing low-budget comedy.

Posted Dec 20, 2021

1.5/5

The Tender Bar (2021)

George Clooney has been directing films for almost 20 years but you'd never guess that from this depressingly and distressingly amateurish coming-of-age story - with words of wisdom akin to those uttered by people peeing in the alley behind the bar.

Posted Dec 20, 2021

3.5/5

The King's Man (2021)

Although Matthew Vaughn's shake-up of the franchise's status-quo aesthetic might cause some to bid a farewell to "Kingsman," those willing to make the turn with him will find plenty to enjoy in this more muted and erudite action fantasia.

Posted Dec 18, 2021

Repossession (2020)

An effective horror story mixed with a less effective ghost story.

Posted Dec 16, 2021

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Already brought brilliantly to the screen once in 1947, Nightmare Alley could only have been resurrected successfully in 2021 by a visionary such as Guillermo del Toro.

Posted Dec 15, 2021

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Deftly mixes multiverse shenanigans with one of the most grounded emotional arcs for the character to ever grace the big screen. A nice return to form for Marvel after a rocky year.

Posted Dec 15, 2021

3/5

Swan Song (2021)

Prioritizing psychology and sentiment over ethics or violence affords an appealing and often untapped approach in this sci-fi subset. Ultimately, it hews a bit too close to a feature-length ad for the service at its core should it ever come to exist.

Posted Dec 14, 2021

That Cold Dead Look in Your Eyes (2021)

Gripping and well-made psychological thriller that asks you to feel it, rather than make sense of it.

Posted Dec 10, 2021

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Held together by two stellar lead performances, but just barely.

Posted Dec 9, 2021

2/5

Encounter (2021)

By the time a full-bore tech-fetish standoff conclusion arrives - alongside eye-rolling convenience, unbelievable developments and Riz Ahmed obnoxiously screaming "COME GET IT!" - "Encounter's" initial intrigue has collided with complete nonsense.

Posted Dec 8, 2021

2.5/5

The Hand of God (È stata la mano di Dio) (2021)

An amorphous saga about Italian satire, splendor, sports and sorrow, the film amounts to scattershot abstraction in search of a tangible anything. The point for this portrait of an artist as a young man proves elusive across 130 enervating minutes.

Posted Dec 8, 2021

2/5

Spy Game (2001)

Generally running on classic rock and smoke, it's all craft and no conviction, all costume and no design. Its anonymized approach has left it appropriately unremembered - a vague whisper on the lips of someone digging through a DVD clearance bin.

Posted Dec 8, 2021

3.5/5

Mr. Majestyk (1974)

The schemes and scrapes Bronson initiates are of the highest order for mid-1970s muscle. But amid the gunfights and car chases, this is a Bronson movie that's as much about strategic flourish as explosive fireworks. It's a simple story, solidly told.

Posted Dec 8, 2021

Don't Look Up (2021)

Certainly one of 2021's worst movies - an arrogant, obnoxious mess.

Posted Dec 7, 2021

Vietnam: Fast Forward (2021)

Although not much more than a travel documentary, Fast Forward has a positive energy that is undeniably infectious.

Posted Dec 4, 2021

Portal Runner (2021)

Fun & inventive small-budget science fiction.

Posted Dec 3, 2021

The Scrapper (2021)

Good action, tense plot, and good performances make this a noteworthy low-budget thriller.

Posted Dec 2, 2021

Benedetta (2021)

Transgressive in the ways you likely expect, funny in ways you don't.

Posted Nov 29, 2021

Belfast (2021)

Cloying and over-directed.

Posted Nov 25, 2021

House of Gucci (2021)

Lady Gaga swings as hard as she can, but it's not her fault House of Gucci is a miss.

Posted Nov 24, 2021

Single Mother by Choice (2021)

Sweet and funny COVID-era drama that digs into the difficulty being pregnant at that time.

Posted Nov 24, 2021

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

A migraine-inducing vortex of bad horror, incoherency, and annoying franchise references.

Posted Nov 24, 2021

The Rumperbutts (2015)

Good music and good humor

Posted Nov 18, 2021

3.5/5

King Richard (2021)

A tougher, more objective production might have pushed "King Richard" to a meatier match point. Regardless, it's a well-acted and well-meaning movie that's as much about the difficulty of raising good people as it is raising great tennis players.

Posted Nov 18, 2021

Hell or High Seas (2021)

An incredible true adventure, impeccably told.

Posted Nov 17, 2021

Clerk (2021)

An over-indulgent look at a figure who has told his own story time and again.

Posted Nov 16, 2021

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (2021)

A deftly told, multi-layered documentary that uses a unique perspective to capture the magic of Kurt Vonnegut.

Posted Nov 15, 2021

The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special (2020)

As sweet as it is filthy. Feels like it could be a new holiday tradition.

Posted Nov 14, 2021

Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

A miserable, style-less regurgitation.

Posted Nov 11, 2021

1/5

Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021)

After a pretty but vacant 80 minutes, "Roadrunner" evokes its namesake's nemesis - running into the ravine by interrogating what or who precipitated Bourdain's 2018 death by suicide, with all the aesthetic choices of some tawdry true-crime series.

Posted Nov 10, 2021

Lotawana (2022)

Visually rich enough to make up for a muddled story.

Posted Nov 9, 2021

Introducing Jodea (2021)