Review Archive
2023-2024 Reviews
Mozart!: Literal, figurative, and viewpoint
The Holdovers: Humor, intimacy, and era
Bonus Review: Best Books of November
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Politics, recognition, and market
Merrily We Roll Along Cast Recording: Themes, group, and chronology
Poirot: Character, consistency, and circumstance
Practical Magic: Camp, tone, and inheritance
A Ranking of Kenneth Branagh’s Poirot Movies
Sweeney Todd 2023 Cast Recording: Feeling, character, and sound
Barbenheimer (Barbenheimer 3/3): A reflection
Oppenheimer (Barbenheimer ⅔): Style, memory, and legacy
Barbie (Barbenheimer ⅓): Audience, scale, and conversation
2022-2023 Reviews
Tony Nominations 2023: Favorites, disappointments, and elitism
A Retrospective Letter to Anne Rice
Darkon: Sincerity, bias, and insight
Shazam! Fury of the Gods: Age, tone, and convenience
Three Pines: Disappointment in the wake of cancelation
Wednesday: Camp, cringe, and engagement
Moulin Rouge!: Perspective, relevance, and art
See How They Run: Solving, interaction, and renaissance
“Bone”: Fairytales, maturity, and engagement
“Interview With The Vampire”: Evil, remorse, and allegory
Glass Onion: Tropes, morals, and intent
Three Pines: Adaptation, expansion, and personality
Lit. of 2022: The best and worst this year
She Said: Complacency, time, and focus
“In Cold Blood”: Ethics, non-fiction, and mystery
Hocus Pocus 1+2: New times, nostalgia, and villainy
The Corpse Bride: Centering, difficulty, and power
High As Hope: Catharsis, dreaminess, and revisits
The Outfit: Ambiguity, time frames, and dialogue
Footloose: The pursuit of holiness, blind eyes, and rebellion
Dirty Dancing: Change, power, and summer
“Ophelia”: Revision, dynamics, and closure
Elvis: Music, politics, and villains
2021-2022 Reviews:
“Anna Karenina”: Morals, names, and tipping points
Cyrano: Music, medium, and retellings
Hello, Dolly!: New eras, casting, and romanticism
“Romeo and Juliet”: Real morals, adaptation, and curriculum
“Last Night at the Telegraph Club”: Coming of age, aspirational role-models, and nostalgia
West Side Story: Anita, blue, and snapping
Wheel of Time: Adaptation, magic, and characters
Bonus Review: There’s Someone Inside Your House Movie: Stakes, motivations, and changes
Christie: Murder, legacy, and little gray cells
CW Nancy Drew: Supernatural hijinks, puzzles, and a promising third season
Gattaca: Rethinking what ‘dystopian’ means
Only Murders in the Building: A Fresh and Funny Whodunnit
“There’s Someone Inside Your House”: Full of Horror and Lacking Suspense
“Frankenstein”: Understanding Creation and Accountability
“Blanca and Roja”: A Magical Folktale About Finding Love and Self
Free Guy: A Fun Ride with Surprising Heart