The Short Sharp Shock
A look at this year’s Oscar-nominated live-action short films

The short story is a wonderful art form. There are storywriters — Alice Munro, Anton Chekov, Denis Johnson, James Joyce, to name a few heavies … Continue reading
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The short story is a wonderful art form. There are storywriters — Alice Munro, Anton Chekov, Denis Johnson, James Joyce, to name a few heavies … Continue reading
For some reason, while I was watching the new Netflix movie Velvet Buzzsaw, the opening words of William Carlos Williams’ great poem “To Elsie” suddenly … Continue reading
If you haven’t seen Attack the Block, Joe Cornish’s 2011 aliens-invade-the-council-block movie starring the future first female Doctor Who and future Finn in The Force … Continue reading
As usual, the all-out-of-proportion global ballyhoo signaling the Academy Award nominees this week was an almost entirely emetic affair that, this year in particular, produced … Continue reading
The older couple exiting the theater in front of me was pissed. Outraged. As they ducked their gray heads together in conversation, confabulating, commiserating, I … Continue reading
In the pantheon of true American baddies, Dick Cheney ranks right in the top tier — a man who gives Henry Kissinger a run for … Continue reading
For moviegoers who recall the sumptuous, thrilling spectacle of Alfonso Cuaron’s 2013 blockbuster Gravity, in which Sandra Bullock and George Clooney were pelted with zooming … Continue reading
In his 2015 film The Lobster, Greek director Yargos Lanthimos evoked a haunting vision of social engineering run amok, where unattached patrons of a “Hotel” … Continue reading
For all their deceptive genre fluidity, technical finesse and narrative bankability, the Coen brothers remain among our finest filmmakers, capable of straddling that razor’s edge … Continue reading
Within the first few minutes of Widows, a heist goes terribly awry. You’ll see this coming. It isn’t the job that you’re here to see, … Continue reading