The Foxy Film Fan

Like so many before me, I've been a longstanding fan of the work of director and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,   Adaptation , Being John Malkovich , and Synecdoche, New York  are profound pieces of cinema which have shaped the way people look at film and recognize movies (particularly dark comedies) as an artform which can communicate existential ideas. Sure, he's usually dismissed as pretentious, but I'm at a point in my life where I'm alright with most of the things I love being cast aside as such. That being said  I'm Thinking of Ending Things , Kaufman's newest film which released on Netflix today, is an exhausting two and a half hour trek through nothingness. The thin and wavering plot is stretched as thin as our protagonist's sanity as she and her terrible boyfriend venture out to a farm to visit his parents. Our protagonist (played by Jessie Buckley) is uncertain of who she is, and unfortunately that makes it dif...

Despite the abundance of superhero movies, it's been a long time since we've had something as violent and fun as Birds of Prey . It feels as though Marvel and DC movies are so wrapped up in maintaining their own lore and reaching the next beat in the plot that they've forgotten the most important part about superhero movies - fun. Admittedly, I've never really been a superhero movie person. I had fun with Guardians of the Galaxy , I liked Watchmen  in all its sad introspective existential dread, Joker  made me cry a lot about the plight of those of us who struggle with mental illness, and I'm excited to see Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Colin Farrell, and Paul Dano all in the new Batman movie. Outside of that, I have the tendency to get bored during most superhero movies. I either hit a wall where the action is mind-numbing or I feel like I already know what's going to happen next and I'm just waiting to be proven right. Birds of Prey  is different. A...

Director Rupert Goold is perhaps most notable for his phenomenal Macbeth  film, which is singlehandedly responsible for sparking my interest in the play (and Patrick Stewart played no small role in swaying my heart, of course). Unfortunately his 2019 biopic, Judy,  is bland and tasteless. As one critic states, Judy  shows the lows, but it carefully avoids navigating the highs of Judy Garland's life. As many know, Judy Garland's life was one full of abuse, addiction, and terrible trauma. She acted and sang under prying eyes for most of her life, was sexually abused by disgusting men in the film industry who were too big to worry about consequences for their actions, and struggled to have the relationship with her children she yearned for. Goold's film, Judy, observes these tragedies within her life through a cold and callous lens. We watch her perform, indulge in her addiction, and get some incredibly painful flashbacks to some of her childhood abuse. There's never ...

          2019 was an interesting and contradictory year for film. On one hand we had more of the Hollywood Disney/Marvel sameness, and on the other hand we had some unique new releases by some of my favorite directors of all time. This list took a great deal of contemplation, because 2019 had some wonderful releases, and I hope 2020s list is even more challenging. Unfortunately, 2019 had a lot of great movies I didn't get around to watching in time for writing this list ( Uncut Gems and Knives Out , to be specific), but you can expect full reviews for both of those movies in the future.           Also, Cats  gets a shoutout for making me physically ill with its grotesque imagery. Congratulations on feeling three hours longer than you really are.  10. The Lighthouse horror, directed by Robert Eggers           Robert Eggers is singlehandedly responsible for absolutely horrifying me with his ...

Marriage Story  is a phenomenal and depressing movie. 2019 seems to be, for whatever reason, the year film felt like tackling agonizing and realistic depictions of breakups. From Midsommar 's fantastical take on a relationship's unraveling during cult rituals, to Marriage Story  (which I feel should have been called Divorce Story, since it's a little misleading), film has began agonizing over the details of romantic relationship's downfalls with no hope in sight of any sort of reconciliation.  I would like to begin this review with confessing my adoration for Adam Driver, and admitting that it took Jojo Rabbit for me to realize Scarlett Johansson can act in roles other than playing the silent tough lady. Marriage Story , however, really shows more depth and levels to her acting. It's unfortunate that the infamous fight scene has been circulating the internet as a bit of a meme, since within the context of the film it's heartbreaking and has some of the ...

Ready Or Not  is your traditional wedding story. A woman marries a rich man, and she has to survive until daylight while her new in-laws hunt her down with guns and crossbows. You know, it's just like every other wedding you've been to. There's a lot to say about this movie and it's commentary made on the wealthy privileged elites of society, and there's also a lot to say about Samara Weaving's performance as the bride who just can't seem to catch a break. Class warfare is the most blatant theme throughout Ready Or Not , and it's sort of a play on those stories of the wealthy hunting humans for fun. The family's dysfunction leads to her new husband, Alex, having complicated feelings about the role he's forced to play. Like the wealthy who contemplate whether the role they play in society is truly beneficial or actually actively harms the poor, he sways back and forth from longing to protect his wife and feeling certain that he has a duty to...

The Art of Self Defense  features Jesse Eisenberg as Casey, an awkward and anxious man who signs up for classes at his local karate dojo led by a chauvinistic and eccentric sensei. After years of being mocked for being himself and a particularly traumatic event, Casey decides he wants to become what he's afraid of. So, he sets forth in doing just that, and slowly works on transforming himself into the same type of men who have belittled him and tormented him for his entire life. It's a strange combination of Napoleon Dynamite and John Wick, but with more of a message to deliver than either of them. The Art of Self Defense  aims to help its audiences understand what toxic masculinity is, and that it's not some inherent trait every masculine man has. When masculinity turns toxic it takes the form of men picking fights with one another over a glance or bad parking job, it turns into men who harm and harass women just because they can. I, like many other women, have endur...