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Kingdom Come (2001)
They're not perfect, but they are family.
Filmmaker(s): Doug McHenry

When her husband keels over from a stroke, Raynelle Slocumb calls the entire clan together to remember their dearly departed. Family tensions reach a comedic boil as the wildly dysfunctional Slocumbs squabble and fight their way to the funeral.

<strong>The Pulpit must be quite a challenge to create films to feed a distinct audience of any kind. You can only go so far with stories about gangstas, earnest kid transcends the ghetto, black dating plots, Eddie Murphy farts, and Denzel “pride” movies. This...


Published March 4, 2023
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Kite (2014)
Never underestimate a girl with nothing to lose.
Filmmaker(s): Ralph Ziman

When Sawa's mother and policeman father are found victims of a grisly double homicide, she begins a ruthless pursuit for the man who murdered them. With the help of her father's ex-partner, Karl Aker, and a mysterious friend from her past, she becomes a merciless teen assassin, blasting her way through the dark world of human trafficking only to uncover a devastating truth

Raped could have been a good movie. I’m particularly sensitive to the cinematic power of sexual exploitation — after all, that’s pretty close to much of the cinematic experience. And child molesting adds great power to the experience. Also, I like Manga’s sometimes honest approach to...


Published March 4, 2023
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Knife in the Water (1962)
Acclaimed by all! Roman Polanski's tense, ironic Drama!
Filmmaker(s): Roman Polanski

On their way to an afternoon on the lake, husband and wife Andrzej and Krystyna nearly run over a young hitchhiker. Inviting the young man onto the boat with them, Andrzej begins to subtly torment him; the hitchhiker responds by making overtures toward Krystyna. When the hitchhiker is accidentally knocked overboard, the husband's panic results in unexpected consequences.

Lubricated Blade is nothing more thrilling than discovering a natural filmmaker for the first time. There are only so many, and you can only have cinema menarche once. It is an introduction into another life. I first saw this in 1965 at the Orson Welles Cinema...


Published March 2, 2023
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Klimt (2006)
Filmmaker(s): Raúl Ruiz

A portrait of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt whose lavish, sexual paintings came to symbolize the art nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Wittgenstein’s Gaudi Chapel the world relaxed and enjoyed itself between wars. When art was a solitary and experimental endeavour. When Europeans rediscovered the power of nature in sex and in some cases the other way around. When lives really could be deep, and debauched and...


Published March 2, 2023
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Margaret (2011)
Filmmaker(s): Kenneth Lonergan

A young woman witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people's lives.

Situations I’ve been through both edits of this now, after recommendations from several readers. I get what he is trying to do. I am writing as someone who prefers the Cannes edit of ‘Brown Bunny’ and who eagerly sat through 3 1/2 hours of ‘The...


Published March 2, 2023
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Maladolescenza (1977)
Filmmaker(s): Pier Giuseppe Murgia

Laura and Fabrizio have been meeting every summer in the forest by her parent's summer home. Fabrizio is a solitary boy with only his dog for company; Laura a sweet but unconfident child. This summer new aspects enter into their story as both are growing up. Laura is falling in love with Fabrizio, while he displays a new sexual awareness of her masked by his malice. Things develop further when they meet Sylvia who, unlike the innocent Laura, is confident and assertive. Fabrizio develops a fascination with her, eventually bribing Laura to fetch her to the forest to join them in play.

Tame Stuff think I saw this when it was new. Hard to remember, because I don’t think it had much effect on me. If it did, it has far less now. The idea here is that we see creeping malevolence made crisp by showing it among...


Published February 28, 2023
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Adaptation (2002)
From the creator of Being John Malkovich, comes the story about the creator of Being John Malkovich.
Filmmaker(s): Spike Jonze

Nicolas Cage is Charlie Kaufman, a confused L.A. screenwriter overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy, sexual frustration, self-loathing, and by the screenwriting ambitions of his freeloading twin brother Donald. While struggling to adapt "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, Kaufman's life spins from pathetic to bizarre. The lives of Kaufman, Orlean's book, become strangely intertwined as each one's search for passion collides with the others'.

Abject Folding am writing a book about “folding” in film. That’s a term I have coined to describe all the parallel levels that have become part of the film vocabulary, among them self-reference, reflection self-aware irony and timeshifting. I love these films. They are always...


Published February 27, 2023
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Adam (2009)
A story about two strangers. One a little stranger than the other...
Filmmaker(s): Max Mayer

Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.

Stuttered Beginnings found this to be offensive in that mild way that occurs so often. Storytellers sometimes have to make decisions that cost the viewer something — the worst kind of cheat because it pushes the pain onto the unwitting. Is it a net good...


Published February 27, 2023
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Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
There are three sides to this love story.
Filmmaker(s): Robert Benton

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.

Split Decision drama is considered successful. I think it is not because it tells us anything special, or that the characters are particularly worthy. I believe it is because of the way the narrative is constructed. It has two arcs. One of these has the husband establishing...


Published February 27, 2023
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Last Man Standing (1996)
In a town with no justice, there is only one law... Every man for himself.
Filmmaker(s): Walter Hill

John Smith is a mysterious stranger who is drawn into a vicious war between two Prohibition-era gangs. In a dangerous game, he switches allegiances from one to another, offering his services to the highest bidder. As the death toll mounts, Smith takes the law into his own hands in a deadly race to stay alive.

Kurosawa on Kurosawa of film have great fun with situations like this. Here we have three films (‘Yojimbo,' 'Fistful,' and ‘Last Man') with the same script but entirely different cinematic philosophies. All do well at what they attempt. Kurosawa is one of the great innovators of...


Published February 27, 2023
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