PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002)

If 1999’s Magnolia was a baroque regurgitation of director Paul Thomas Anderson’s pet themes regarding tragically broken families, Punch-Drunk Love, his follow-up from 2002, is therapy in action. A cathartic primal scream wrapped up inside a rom-com and coyly teased as a “90 minute Adam Sandler comedy” when in production, Punch-Drunk Love lives in the […]

MAGNOLIA (1999)

The cinema of Robert Altman was marked by characters who snaked through their lives by insisting on moving forward instead of first reckoning with trauma that they had accrued or engendered. This may have first manifested in the original cut of M*A*S*H where members of the 4077 dispassionately play poker as the body of Ho-Jon, […]

DISCO LADY (1978)

The problem with most New Year’s Eve movies is that they’re going to become much more bittersweet as the world changes and our connectivity is more virtual than it is real. These days, loading into the middle of the city on New Year’s Eve with a bunch of inebriated strangers just doesn’t have the same […]

BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997)

It’s a strange thing to consider but for all of the power that sex wields to start wars, topple the powerful, and put people into financial or personal ruin, the porn industry is small time. That’s not to say that the porn business doesn’t make boatloads of cash. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I […]

HARD EIGHT (1996)

The first image we see is a Denny’s. Well, it’s a reconverted Denny’s, at least. The world of Hard Eight is one of unshakable reputations; it can say Jack’s Coffee Shop on the sign but it’s still a Denny’s that has been broken down, sold off, and is quietly functioning in its new skin. Walking […]

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION (2006)

The first snippet of music in the opening credits for A Prairie Home Companion tricks the audience into thinking the movie is going to be some kind of a light homage for the blue plate special crowd. But within seconds, this all begins to slowly shift as the radio tunes in and out of different […]