It’s probably not a coincidence that A Haunting in Venice is my favorite of Kenneth Branagh’s three Agatha Christie/Hercule Poirot movies when it was the only one whose book I hadn’t read prior to seeing the film.
Author: Chris Burlingame
Oppenheimer is a masterclass in filmmaking
As long as I’ve been writing about the arts (somewhere near twenty years now), I’ve tried to keep any effusiveness in check, lest I feel like one of those critics whose names appear on movie posters declaring some Hollywood dreck like a Transformers movie life-changing. So when I left the theater after watching Oppenheimer, my emotions were almost foreign. I felt wonder and astonishment and like I had seen one of the best films I’ve seen in my life.
It’s time to embrace that this is now Barbie‘s world, we’re just living in it
Every time I saw a TV commercial or product tie-in for the new Barbie movie – and there were a lot – I had the same thought: “this movie better be good.” It gives me immense pleasure to report that, for the most part, it is an extremely well-made and enjoyable, often (literally) otherworldly, movie that will delight its audience.
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning is the first great blockbuster of the summer, should you choose to accept it
Is there a long-running blockbuster movie franchise that is more dependably good than the Mission Impossible films with Tom Cruise? I don’t think there is.
Portrait of the Explorer as an Old Fart
It’s been fifteen years since Harrison Ford donned his famous fedora atop Indiana Jones’s head. But! The iconic archaeologist is back for what is likely a final exploration.
Fast X: Infinity War?
Fast X is the tenth F&F movie and it’s reported to be the penultimate in the franchise. Number eleven will be the final chapter. Or maybe not. How many farewell tours has KISS embarked on? Either way, Fast X is the first half of what will likely be a film epic. In 2025, we’ll see things blow up in ways people in 2023 never dreamed of. Consider it: Fast and the Furious: Infinity War.
SIFF interview: Documentary filmmaker Penny Lane is a Good Samaritan
I believe most writers, especially those of us who cover the arts, have a small “dream interview” list, people that we’d love to talk to, should the stars align. High on my shortlist for about a decade has been documentarian Penny Lane. She’s directed some of the most unique and memorable documentaries in recent years, full of vivid characters. Some of her most notable films include Our Nixon, Nuts!, Hail Satan?, and Listening to Kenny G. She’s like a Gen X Errol Morris and she’s amazing.
SIFF 2023: Shout at the devil with Even Hell Has Its Heroes and Satan Wants You
Short reviews of two documentaries: Even Hell Has Its Heroes, about the NW rock band Earth, and Satan Wants You about the Canadian roots of the Satanic panic.
SIFF 2023: NW Connections: Poets and Puns
Two local documentaries, both making their world premieres at SIFF, are reviewed (and recommended!).
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret is a wonderful adaptation of a remarkable book
When I first learned that a movie for the Judy Blume classic novel of adolescent angst Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, I couldn’t help but feel cynical. It’s hard not to be considering how many great books I cherish have been turned into forgettable adaptations over the past few years. It brings me great joy to report back that the new film adaptation of Margaret is…quite good.