At the movies: The Shrouds.

 David Cronenberg is back, and that's how we like it.

Some quick thoughts on Sinners.

 

It’s rare that the biggest crowdpleasing popcorn epic in town and the most uncompromisingly political and socially radical film to be seen are the same one- but Sinners is something special. Ryan Coogler finds his own path through a century’s worth of iconography and ideas, giving us the kind of film you just can’t wait to see again with an audience.

Twin brothers Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan in a way that simply dazzles- we’re talking Jeremy Irons in Dead Ringers level of incarnation) have returned to 1932 Mississippi after some time doing crimes in Chicago, and they’re going to set up a fine Juke Joint in an old millspace. The music- hopping. The booze- luxurious. The vampires- well, they didn’t see that coming at all. In preparation for the Klan, racist militias, unequal financial systems, and all manner of reunions, the Smokestack twins and the majority of their clientele find themselves having to adapt quickly to the vampire cult lurking just outside.

About that vampire collective. They’ve got interesting ideas about social unity and the evolutions that communities must undertake to remain valid sources of support. They’ve got a disdain for racism because it’s pointless and benefits the worst people alive. And they share a collective consciousness that allows them to megamix cultures as well as subsume the jagged edges of difference. These are vampires operating with Chapterhouse: Dune or Scanners rules, and it’s kind of awesome. This philosophy is typically used for something awe-inspiring or horrifying, never really in an intellectual capacity, but let’s be real- this film has a lot on its mind and not every blank has to be filled in up front. Shoutouts are due to Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku.

There’s a similar bifurcate narrative of the From Dusk Til Dawn school, but there’s so much else going on here.

The scene of the year happens during a performance that unlocks the perception of time, summoning griots, DJs, and everything in between to a ritual that spans multiple cultures and timeframes before giving it the Rockmaster Scott benediction. It’s ambitious in a way that feels like it’s metabolizing the differences between Bill Gunn’s Ganja and Hess and Spike Lee’s messy-but-fascinating remake Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus. Moreso, Sinners as a film has heaps of ideas in its head and many, many spheres to juggle, but it never drops its focus and sticks every landing.

At the movies: Play It As It Lays.

 Having never been released on home video in any format, the new 4K DCP restoration of 1972's Play It As It Lays is nothing short of a miracle.

At the movies: Hell of a Summer.

 

I rather enjoyed Hell Of A Summer, both for what it is and what it isn't.

Big Ears 2025.

 SO, I got to go to Tennessee's most amazing music festival, and this is the grand write-up.

At the movies: Misericordia.

 I had some thoughts about Misericordia, an elegant and delightful thriller.

The Filmography of David Lynch.

 This was first published in 2017, to anticipate the then-looming release of Twin Peaks: The Return. It was refreshed for a recent retrospective following the death of David Lynch. A fun little overview.