Change Your Image
michelledischer
Reviews
The Shop (2018)
Compelling and informative
Smart, witty, poignant, and forward-thinking discussion. Not clear why there are so many curmudgeons here dissing the show. Ignorance is annoying. Anyone with any knowledge of history knows that athletes have ALWAYS been in the vanguard of social change.
Apt Pupil (1998)
Stunningly tasteless waste of film
I am watching the "The Apt Pupil" and I'm trying to imagine if I'd be more insulted by the subtext if I were a Jew. The film's emphasis on the two characters psychopathic tendencies serve to obviate them of responsibility for their actions. The message is, "Nazis and their admirers can't be held responsible for the atrocities they commit and admire because they're crazy. This is a cop out in the film and in the real world. Anyone who has seen "The Man Who Fell from Grace with the Sea" has seen the better film about this subject. In this film, the Holocaust is merely a toy, a tantalizing sweet just out of reach of the two characters. The atrocities of the Holocaust are objectified and stripped of their importance. It's not often you see Jews and "Jewishness" representing the "other" or local color. That convention is usually limited to people of color, thrown in to illuminate by contrast the main (white) characters. This is a tasteless, insensitive and stupid movie. (Intriguing number of Teutonic names in the credits, too...)
M. D.
Magnolia (1999)
One of the best films of the 90s
I've now seen Magnolia five times, and I remain convinced that it is one of the best films I've ever seen. PT Anderson crafts such a rich tapestry of human foibles that every time I watch, I find a different "Waldo." The greatest testament to his directorial genius is how he manages to control Cruise's performance. Cruise is insufferable in every movie save this one. The only time he "acts" like Cruise is when he chews up the sheets at Jason Robards' death bed. I figure PT must have gone to the bathroom and missed that part. The framing of the film in the "coincidences" sequence is a work of art. The seemingly disparate tales with no reasonable expectation of convergence (something that turned off a lot of viewers) I find exhilarating. I cry every time.
MD
The Cat Came Back (1988)
Brilliant!
This is, without doubt, one of the funniest animated films I've ever seen. Just the shape Johnson's pants is hilarious. The cat's systematic destruction of his house, his mum's picture, the drapes, the soundtrack of the rat blowing out his lighter--priceless. I've seen it a dozen times and every time I see it, I see something new. Brilliant and richly humorous. MD