Month: September 2020
The Artist’s Wife: The artistry of fading memory
by Matt Ward
Films often do a remarkable job of showcasing what disease does to a person both mentally and physically. In 2014, Eddie Redmayne transformed himself to play Stephen Hawking struggling with early-onset ALS in an Oscar-winning role in The Theory of Everything and Julianne Moore received an Academy Award for playing a doctor diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in Still Alice. What doesn’t usually take center stage … Read More The Artist’s Wife: The artistry of fading memory
The Devil All The Time: Saints and sinners soaked in blood
by Matt Ward
Fathers can pass a lot of things down to their sons: the love of a local sports team, good genes for height or a large inheritance. But it’s two wildly differing concepts – violence and religious faith – that boldly intersect in writer/director Antonio Campos’s latest film, a sprawling tale of wolves in sheep’s clothing where the purity of both saints and sinners is … Read More The Devil All The Time: Saints and sinners soaked in blood
The Social Dilemma: Unplug from the matrix
by Matt Ward
A new documentary on Netflix – currently ranked as the seventh most watched film in the United States per the streaming service – openly calls for viewers not to click on recommended videos and to make choices for themselves. It’s one of the many contradictions littered throughout director Jeff Orlowski’s strange yet insightful documentary/drama The Social Dilemma, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film … Read More The Social Dilemma: Unplug from the matrix
Irresistible: Big spin in a small town
by Matt Ward
Politics is broken. It’s the thesis statement that lies under the surface of former Daily Show host turned filmmaker Jon Stewart’s latest feature and one that evokes a gentler version of the outrage he displayed in a viral moment on CNN’s Crossfire in 2004, raking pundits Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala over the coals for hyper-partisanship ruining American democracy in his opinion. Written in … Read More Irresistible: Big spin in a small town
Cinematic Considerations 