eleewiggins
@eleewiggins.bsky.social
Retired scribe-turned-scholar watching this wild Easter Parade called life.
Chloé Zhao's Hamnet asks much of the audience, but nothing close to what is demanded of the players, especially Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare. She's honest and visceral, fully owning every embrace and every tear. Hers is a showpiece of film acting among many outstanding performances. Brava!
December 5, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Chloé Zhao's Hamnet asks much of the audience, but nothing close to what is demanded of the players, especially Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare. She's honest and visceral, fully owning every embrace and every tear. Hers is a showpiece of film acting among many outstanding performances. Brava!
The bond that The Long Walk's Ray and Peter have, the energy it radiates, lifts not only the other boys in the "walk or die" contest but the audience, as well. It is heartening for us to see selflessness given such life at a time when we could easily believe it had been lost somewhere down the road.
September 15, 2025 at 12:58 PM
The bond that The Long Walk's Ray and Peter have, the energy it radiates, lifts not only the other boys in the "walk or die" contest but the audience, as well. It is heartening for us to see selflessness given such life at a time when we could easily believe it had been lost somewhere down the road.
Hmmmm. Living large while the majority outside the gates are being impoverished and disenfranchised. I bet the planners of South African apartheid looked like this when they cobbled together that nightmare of white supremacy and tyranny in the '40s.
September 9, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Hmmmm. Living large while the majority outside the gates are being impoverished and disenfranchised. I bet the planners of South African apartheid looked like this when they cobbled together that nightmare of white supremacy and tyranny in the '40s.
The only thing more unsettling than walking in on a thief rifling through your things is having the thief continue the rifling even though the lights are on and you're standing there watching.
SCOTUS blatantly robbing the American people of due process and protections against racial profiling.
SCOTUS blatantly robbing the American people of due process and protections against racial profiling.
September 9, 2025 at 12:24 AM
The only thing more unsettling than walking in on a thief rifling through your things is having the thief continue the rifling even though the lights are on and you're standing there watching.
SCOTUS blatantly robbing the American people of due process and protections against racial profiling.
SCOTUS blatantly robbing the American people of due process and protections against racial profiling.
Many folks had their issues with H.W. but I'm thinking even we "donkeys" would take a George Bush I presidency -- without the Thomas appointment -- over the bush league administration that's piloting America's descent.
September 9, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Many folks had their issues with H.W. but I'm thinking even we "donkeys" would take a George Bush I presidency -- without the Thomas appointment -- over the bush league administration that's piloting America's descent.
As it ever was in a Spike Lee / Denzel Washington Joint, Highest 2 Lowest is Washington's showpiece, start to finish. He covers lots of dramatic turf in depicting a man who has been sure about nearly everything in his life, now facing financial and spiritual uncertainty.
August 15, 2025 at 10:49 PM
As it ever was in a Spike Lee / Denzel Washington Joint, Highest 2 Lowest is Washington's showpiece, start to finish. He covers lots of dramatic turf in depicting a man who has been sure about nearly everything in his life, now facing financial and spiritual uncertainty.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps includes Marvel's familiar winning formula -- attractive stars, menacing villain(s) and the punchy kind of banter that fans expect. And the movie gets a valuable assist from an infant who might be the "herald" of a brand-new generation of bombastic heroics. Buckle up!
July 26, 2025 at 12:34 PM
The Fantastic Four: First Steps includes Marvel's familiar winning formula -- attractive stars, menacing villain(s) and the punchy kind of banter that fans expect. And the movie gets a valuable assist from an infant who might be the "herald" of a brand-new generation of bombastic heroics. Buckle up!
The Fantastic Four: First Steps includes familiar elements of Marvel's winning formula -- attractive stars, menacing villain(s) and the punchy kind of banter that fans expect. In addition, and I believe this is a first, the movie gets a valuable assist from an infant heralding future heroics.
July 25, 2025 at 11:51 PM
The Fantastic Four: First Steps includes familiar elements of Marvel's winning formula -- attractive stars, menacing villain(s) and the punchy kind of banter that fans expect. In addition, and I believe this is a first, the movie gets a valuable assist from an infant heralding future heroics.
Ari Aster continues to display a unique genius and fills Eddington with winks-and-nods to social and political dysfunctions -- maybe a few too many for lazy audiences to fully register. The picture has a raw assurance that will please Aster fans even though it may not win him very many new ones.
July 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Ari Aster continues to display a unique genius and fills Eddington with winks-and-nods to social and political dysfunctions -- maybe a few too many for lazy audiences to fully register. The picture has a raw assurance that will please Aster fans even though it may not win him very many new ones.
Ep 3 of Netflix's Emmy-nominated Adolescence is essentially a two-player one-act starring Erin Doherty as psychologist Briony Ariston and Owen Cooper as accused murderer Jamie Miller. Both Doherty and Cooper are nominated for their performances, which are riveting, devastating and heartbreaking.
July 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Ep 3 of Netflix's Emmy-nominated Adolescence is essentially a two-player one-act starring Erin Doherty as psychologist Briony Ariston and Owen Cooper as accused murderer Jamie Miller. Both Doherty and Cooper are nominated for their performances, which are riveting, devastating and heartbreaking.
James Gunn's supercharged Superman offers the diehard ever-faithful DC Cinematic Universe fans a broad mix of action and comedy, heroics and villainy, a bit of romance between the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) and the intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and an incorrigible flying dog.
July 13, 2025 at 1:41 PM
James Gunn's supercharged Superman offers the diehard ever-faithful DC Cinematic Universe fans a broad mix of action and comedy, heroics and villainy, a bit of romance between the Man of Steel (David Corenswet) and the intrepid reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and an incorrigible flying dog.
With the cinematic wattage of star Brad Pitt and charismatic "It Boy "Damson Idris; a solid script with a trusted, familiar arc; and thrilling racing footage that is hypnotic and dramatic, F1 is destined to be a crowd-pleaser that easily recoups the money poured into this globe-trotting production.
July 6, 2025 at 4:43 PM
With the cinematic wattage of star Brad Pitt and charismatic "It Boy "Damson Idris; a solid script with a trusted, familiar arc; and thrilling racing footage that is hypnotic and dramatic, F1 is destined to be a crowd-pleaser that easily recoups the money poured into this globe-trotting production.
Danny Boyle knows well how to match the visceral with the cerebral, and this continuing story of a viral catastrophe that has wiped out most of human life in the British Isles offers audiences bucketfuls of blood and gore but also the biggest of beating hearts at its center.
June 20, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Danny Boyle knows well how to match the visceral with the cerebral, and this continuing story of a viral catastrophe that has wiped out most of human life in the British Isles offers audiences bucketfuls of blood and gore but also the biggest of beating hearts at its center.
In addition to having a wonderful eye for narrative spaces, Materialists director Celine Song has a keen ear for language. Her characters' disclosures, hedges, anger, defensiveness and self-deception are more revealing to me than their actions -- certainly more truthful than their appearance.
June 19, 2025 at 7:38 PM
In addition to having a wonderful eye for narrative spaces, Materialists director Celine Song has a keen ear for language. Her characters' disclosures, hedges, anger, defensiveness and self-deception are more revealing to me than their actions -- certainly more truthful than their appearance.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina has the kinetic mayhem that has made the venerable series so addictive, but it lacks the elegant grace notes that made Wick's World so freaking entertaining, both unbelievably violent and surprisingly droll.
June 8, 2025 at 12:20 AM
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina has the kinetic mayhem that has made the venerable series so addictive, but it lacks the elegant grace notes that made Wick's World so freaking entertaining, both unbelievably violent and surprisingly droll.
Wes Anderson's films, including his latest The Phoenician Scheme, has leading actors -- here, Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera -- but the performances are deliberately monotonic, impressive in their lack of expressiveness. The movies' resonance is in their visual sumptuousness.
June 6, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Wes Anderson's films, including his latest The Phoenician Scheme, has leading actors -- here, Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton and Michael Cera -- but the performances are deliberately monotonic, impressive in their lack of expressiveness. The movies' resonance is in their visual sumptuousness.
Friendship is a series of bad notions that lead to worse problems and disastrous fixes. Though frequently hilarious -- both Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd are totally committed to the chaos -- the friendship spin-out might be exhausting for those who do not give themselves over to the insanity.
May 30, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Friendship is a series of bad notions that lead to worse problems and disastrous fixes. Though frequently hilarious -- both Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd are totally committed to the chaos -- the friendship spin-out might be exhausting for those who do not give themselves over to the insanity.
In Final Destination: Bloodlines, directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein stage an impressive opening sequence of deadly mayhem that is unmatched by any of the reckoning moments that follow. Still, the scene whets the appetite for a feast of tension, tongue-in-cheekery, visual and musical puns.
May 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
In Final Destination: Bloodlines, directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein stage an impressive opening sequence of deadly mayhem that is unmatched by any of the reckoning moments that follow. Still, the scene whets the appetite for a feast of tension, tongue-in-cheekery, visual and musical puns.
What make Thunderbolts* such an enjoyable update of the Marvel Universe's sprawling mythology is the affability of the players and the brightness of the writing. The humor is on the scale of Deadpool in profane sharpness but the treatment of the characters' backstories is inventively tender.
May 11, 2025 at 9:03 PM
What make Thunderbolts* such an enjoyable update of the Marvel Universe's sprawling mythology is the affability of the players and the brightness of the writing. The humor is on the scale of Deadpool in profane sharpness but the treatment of the characters' backstories is inventively tender.
No one does "crazy" with the ease of Nicolas Cage. In Director Lorcan Finnegan's The Surfer, Cage unravels on the screen, raving as the title character trying to wrench access to a beach near his childhood home in Australia from bully boys, and grows more, well, Cage-y, as the film progresses.
May 5, 2025 at 1:02 AM
No one does "crazy" with the ease of Nicolas Cage. In Director Lorcan Finnegan's The Surfer, Cage unravels on the screen, raving as the title character trying to wrench access to a beach near his childhood home in Australia from bully boys, and grows more, well, Cage-y, as the film progresses.
As with the first film, the body count in The Accountant 2 is enormous but certainly not on the scale of the John Wick series. Star Ben Affleck is on his game from start to finish, and, yes, the movie hits those spy thriller marks, but it is also a thoroughly engaging and humanizing picture, too.
April 28, 2025 at 1:06 AM
As with the first film, the body count in The Accountant 2 is enormous but certainly not on the scale of the John Wick series. Star Ben Affleck is on his game from start to finish, and, yes, the movie hits those spy thriller marks, but it is also a thoroughly engaging and humanizing picture, too.
Film auteur Ryan Coogler's Sinners spans genres, audiences and tastes, but will undoubtedly be appreciated on its deepest level -- and there are many levels to this story of all manner of blood suckers -- by those familiar with the adage "every closed eye ain't sleep, every goodbye ain't gone."
April 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Film auteur Ryan Coogler's Sinners spans genres, audiences and tastes, but will undoubtedly be appreciated on its deepest level -- and there are many levels to this story of all manner of blood suckers -- by those familiar with the adage "every closed eye ain't sleep, every goodbye ain't gone."
Folks will find a half-dozen reasons why Christopher Landon's social media nightmare thriller Drop shouldn't work, but it kicks butt because of the casting of Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar as an impossibly attractive couple on a first date in a luxurious Chicago high-rise restaurant.
April 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Folks will find a half-dozen reasons why Christopher Landon's social media nightmare thriller Drop shouldn't work, but it kicks butt because of the casting of Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar as an impossibly attractive couple on a first date in a luxurious Chicago high-rise restaurant.
I hadn't thought about Dennis the Menace in years. Reports of celebrity deaths like this make me wistful, but then I recognize I never actually knew Jay North, just what the entertainment factory showed me he was. But I suppose that's true for everyone. We're so much more than what's on the outside.
April 7, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I hadn't thought about Dennis the Menace in years. Reports of celebrity deaths like this make me wistful, but then I recognize I never actually knew Jay North, just what the entertainment factory showed me he was. But I suppose that's true for everyone. We're so much more than what's on the outside.
Elijah Bynum's Magazine Dreams, a study of obsession and mental illness, is being compared, favorably, with Scorsese's classic Taxi Driver (1976). The picture simmers and steams and occasionally boils over. Jonathan Majors delivers every level of intensity, leaving audiences pummeled and breathless.
April 6, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Elijah Bynum's Magazine Dreams, a study of obsession and mental illness, is being compared, favorably, with Scorsese's classic Taxi Driver (1976). The picture simmers and steams and occasionally boils over. Jonathan Majors delivers every level of intensity, leaving audiences pummeled and breathless.