Tag Archives: Elisabeth Moss

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Shirley (2020) Movie Review

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Josephine Decker’s 2017 film Madeline’s Madeline was fairly electrifying. Armed with a powerhouse performance from Helena Howard, the film resonates with such a unique energy that it is hard to shake. Decker’s latest, an adaptation of a novel about horror author Shirley Jackson, is more subdued in comparison to Madeline’s Madeline. But its energy is similarly unshakeable.

Shirley is initially framed as a biopic, if not a somewhat offbeat one. We enter into the life of Continue reading Shirley (2020) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Invisible Man (2020) Movie Review

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Universal’s 2017 re-interpretation of The Mummy, directed by Alex Kurtzman and starring Tom Cruise, went for a frivolous, action-oriented romp. It appeared to be searching for something akin to yet distinct from the Stephen Sommers-directed The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns—distinguished enough in its choreography to suit Cruise’s devil-may-care persona yet narratively grounded enough to kick off a multi-IP franchise worthy of crossovers and event films.

This latter conceit was dead on arrival. While The Mummy did Continue reading The Invisible Man (2020) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Drama, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

The Kitchen (2019) Movie Review

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1978, Hell’s Kitchen. Three Irish gangsters (James Badge Dale, Brian d’Arcy James, and Jeremy Bobb) get arrested following a police sting and are sentenced to three years in prison. Their wives (Tiffany Haddish, Melissa McCarthy, and Elisabeth Moss) are effectively cut off from their source of income. Their mob ties start short-shrifting their cash kickback. Kathy Brennan (McCarthy) tries to get work, but she is turned away because she has young children.

The three women decide to take over their husbands’ business, spreading more lucrative support to local business and strong-arming the men that Continue reading The Kitchen (2019) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Drama, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Her Smell (2019) Movie Review

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The first time we see the punk rockers of Something She perform in Alex Ross Perry’s latest, Her Smell, the lead singer and face of the group, Becky “Something” (Elisabeth Moss) sings: “I always flirt with death / I always flirt with death / I look ill, but I don’t care about it.”

The crowd erupts in applause. This is what they came to see, but they don’t really understand what they’re hearing. The lyrics to the song are truer than they may appear. After the show, Becky is a blur. Her child is brought backstage, but it is her bandmate Ali (Gayle Rankin) who takes her. Before Becky can confront her child, her ex-husband, and her manager she engages with her spiritual guru Ya-ema (Eka Darville), who is seemingly her first line of reasoning in her turbulent life of rock-n-roll vices.

This situation may sound like a same-song-different-chorus scenario, but Perry’s direction and narrative structuring adds Continue reading Her Smell (2019) Movie Review →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Love It

Us (2019) Movie Review

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Jordan Peele understands the horror movie industry. Given he came out of the Blumhouse label with his directorial debut, the massively successful Get Out, this is no controversial statement. But his adept understanding of what works and doesn’t work about a horror film does not end at Jason Blum’s low-risk, high-reward model.

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Peele has been transparent about his horror influences, and it is clear with Get Out and Us that he knows how to Continue reading Us (2019) Movie Review →

Action/Thriller, All Movie Reviews, Horror, Indie Films, Like It, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Queen of Earth (2015) Movie Review

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In Queen of Earth, old friends Catherine (Elisabeth Moss) and Ginny (Katherine Waterston) escape to a vacation home for a second year in a row to relax and strip away the taxing nature of urban life. Catherine, having recently suffered a loss, is distraught and distracted. She goes on walks that last for miles and lays in bed for hours, complaining that her face is hurting. Depression looms over her head, and it seeps into the world around her. Behind that depression hangs a patiently waiting fury.

 

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Alex Ross Perry makes what we would expect to see–wide open natural spaces and the tranquility of the rural world–anything but Continue reading Queen of Earth (2015) Movie Review →