A Most Violent Year or: The Quintessential Anti-Scorsese Gangster Film (Film Analysis)

A Most Violent Year is the quintessential anti-Scorsese gangster film.

Take This Waltz Part 2: A Beautiful Cautionary Tale on Love and Desire (Film Analysis)

LINK TO PART 1!!!

Take This Waltz Part 1: A Beautiful Cautionary Tale on Love and Desire (Film Analysis)

The late, great Roger Ebert once wrote a piece on how the film La Dolce Vita helped him “measure the inexorable progress of time.”  Each decade from 1962 to 2002 he saw the film and each decade his view on it altered based on his own experiences and gained knowledge in life.  I first saw Take This Waltz in 2011, and watched it again in 2020.  While it hasn’t been a decade yet, my life has vastly changed during those nine years.  I’ve graduated, own a house, a dog, and a cat, had several jobs, and most notably been married for over five years.  My marriage is the key to this review.  My understanding and perspective of Take This Waltz has altered vastly between viewings—as has my immense appreciation.  Where I once viewed Take This Waltz as an interesting love triangle romance-drama has blossomed into a beautiful cautionary tale on love and desire—full of clever, deceptive storytelling, fleshed-out characters, lovely cinematography, and a knack for going against Hollywood conventions.

The Artist's Disappointing Missed Opportunity (Film Review)

The Artist is a love letter to silent films in addition to the Golden Age of Hollywood.  It is filmed entirely in black and white, primarily silent—using classic techniques such as title cards to tell its story—and pays homage to many films of the classic era (from early silent films all the way to the 1940s with films like Citizen Kane).  I love watching silent films—even the poorest quality ones have something to offer in terms of telling the birth and evolution of cinema.  But when I come across a great one, a silent film with passion made by people showing zeal and ambition to this newborn craft, it is an absolute treat.  Heck, my very own blog is named after one of the greatest, most innovative silent films ever created (as well as one of my favorite films): Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.