Pulp Fiction (1994)::rating::5::rating::5::rating::5

Q uentin Tarantino’s masterpiece bears the off-kilter zeal of a crazed saucier–the kind of Creole chef who uses two teaspoons of Sherry for the recipe, then drinks the rest straight from the bottle. From Akira Kurosawa to Arthur Penn, from Buddy Holly’s rock nerdery to James Dean’s leather-jacket cool—just about any pertinent pop culture reference…

ByTodd WoffordApril 30, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)::rating::2.5

I n some ways, Napoleon Dynamite has all the attitude and quotability of any edgy teen comedy. On the surface, it should be an instant classic, and some viewers will still swear that it is. But dig a little deeper, and you'll find an audacious, eccentric little movie that stands in total opposition to its entire genre.…

ByTodd WoffordApril 24, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)::rating::2.5

W hen I first saw Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, I had no idea it was an awkward stitchwork of two different productions. After all, the kaiju flicks have since become iconic in the States for their poor dubbing, model-kit skylines, and dudes rampaging in rubber monster suits, so a little clunkiness is just part of the package. …

ByTodd WoffordApril 17, 20240Comments

Greatest The Archive The Podcast Uncategorized

Young Frankenstein (1974)::rating::4

E legant and refined aren't words you'd normally bandy about Mel Brooks' filmography, but with Young Frankenstein, they just seem to fit. This horror homage is really a delicate soufflé, crafted with care and dedicated to the Universal horror flicks of the 1930s. Brooks seems to genuinely love the James Whale/Boris Karloff adaptation of Mary Shelley's book,…

ByTodd WoffordApril 10, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)::rating::4

B ram Stoker’s Dracula pulls off a rare double feat. As directed by Francis Coppola, this vampire epic manages to be deeply reverential to the beloved source material, while also blazing its own cinematic trail. Stoker’s novel has been filmed--in some form--nearly 300 times, but it’s never had such perfect alchemy: Coppola…

ByTodd WoffordMarch 27, 20240Comments

Greatest The Podcast

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)::rating::5

I t may have all the aesthetics of a big, burly action epic, but don't get it twisted: The Bridge on the River Kwai is a nuanced, character-based drama, and a philosophical rumination on the absurdities of human nature. Yes, Kwai has explosions and combat, but even those are just an extension of the cerebral debate that rages…

ByTodd WoffordMarch 6, 20240Comments

The Latest

The Marvels (2023)::rating::2.5

A s a Star Trek nerd, I remember the 90s as an embarrassment of riches. Actually, it was a never-ending glut: We got seven seasons of The Next Generation, plus seven of Deep Space Nine! But wait, there's more--seven seasons of Voyager, featuring a holographic doctor and a chef that looks like a warthog! Toss in four feature…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 28, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

The English Patient (1996)::rating::4

I can still remember those heady days in 1996, when everybody this side of Elaine Benes swooned over The English Patient. To audiences and critics alike, Anthony Minghella's magnum opus was a magnificent symbiosis of Lawrence of Arabia's sweeping desert majesty and Doctor Zhivago's soapy wartime romance, recalibrated for the Crystal Pepsi Generation. I mean, Ralph Fiennes'…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 14, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Gladiator (2000)::rating::3

D eep in the mine shafts of my brain, I keep a list of perfect movies. Deeper still, there's a list of perfectly awful movies. Below that, under hundreds of feet of bedrock, you'll find a list of perfectly okay movies. Burrow long enough, and you'll find Gladiator down there. I know, tons of people…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 6, 20240Comments

Greatest

The Godfather (1972)::rating::5

M odern cinema simply could not exist as it is without The Godfather. Francis Coppola's masterpiece redefined the width and depth that movies could explore, and inspired a million imitations and homages along the way. No film has ever distilled disparate elements so well: Arthouse ambition melds with pure popcorn entertainment. Nouvelle Vague flourishes flow through the dimensions…

ByTodd WoffordJanuary 30, 20240Comments