Category Archives: Movies

Notes on “Robinson Crusoe”

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Luis Buñuel’s 1954 “Robinson Crusoe” may be my favorite movie adaptation of a great novel. Buñuel’s dry, elliptical handling of the material highlights its fabulous qualities without kicking it into the realm of fantasy. (Buñuel is … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Over the Edge”

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “Over the Edge” is an example of a movie whose exploitation emphasis neutralizes its social message and clears the way for something approaching honesty. Director Jonathan Kaplan is often able to present its kids with a … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Joan the Maid”

Posted on June 23, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: I can’t think of a movie that feels more authentically Medieval than Jacques Rivette’s 1994 “Joan the Maid,” an interpretation of the Joan of Arc story in two very long parts. In it, Rivette, always attentive … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Aquaman”

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: There’s something gleeful, almost lightfooted, in the tacky gigantism of “Aquaman.” Director James Wan rejects the would-be seriousness and most of the cynicism that characterize Marvel’s superhero films in favor of kitsch and can-do cheeriness. Like … Continue reading →

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Joachim Trier’s Thelma Mini-Review

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Fenster

Fenster writes:

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Notes on “The Sin of Harold Diddlebock”

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: One of Preston Sturges’ least known works, “The Sin of Harold Diddlebock” is a wry and tenderhearted tribute to American failure — a sort of inverse Horatio Alger story. Sturges uses the movie to comment on … Continue reading →

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Notes on “The Island at the Top of the World”

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: There is little build-up to the adventure story presented in the 1974 “The Island at the Top of the World.” Almost immediately after their initial meeting, an aristocrat and an archaeologist set out for the Arctic … Continue reading →

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Notes on “Roma”

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: In “Roma,” writer-director Alfonso Cuarón rationalizes chic aesthetic loop-the-loops by pretending to social consciousness. The movie concerns an indigenous maid who serves a white Mexican family. Though critics have compared it to Italian Neorealism, its canned … Continue reading →

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Notes on “First Reformed”

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: “First Reformed” has cozied up to elite movie reviewers (to the extent that such still exist) through its surface resemblance to the films of Bresson and Bergman. In it they imagine they see an expression of … Continue reading →

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Notes on “The Magnificent Ambersons”

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: By turns lyrical and grotesque, and sometimes, unaccountably, both at the same time, “The Magnificent Ambersons,” despite its mutilated form, may be the great movie about the putrefaction of America. Its mutilated state plays into its … Continue reading →

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