ogradyfilm
Jan 7, 20192 min read
Between the Lines
The other day, I finished reading Usagi Yojimbo vol. 21: The Mother of Mountains. As always, Stan Sakai crafts his tale with superb...
The ramblings of a wannabe cineaste. Join me as I dissect the art of storytelling in films, comics, TV shows, and video games.

The other day, I finished reading Usagi Yojimbo vol. 21: The Mother of Mountains. As always, Stan Sakai crafts his tale with superb...
Last night, I had a dream. A dream in which I slipped into a dark, quiet theater to watch Rian Johnson’s Looper for the third time. But...
Borden: He came in to demand an answer and I told him the truth. That I have fought with myself over that night, one half of me swearing...
What do a self-destructive male prostitute (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and a UFO-obsessed community college student (Brady Corbet) have in...
I love genre conventions. I really do. Two gunslingers stare each other down, waiting to see who will draw first. An honorable samurai...
First thing’s first: despite being produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, Overlord is not an entry in the Cloverfield franchise—though there...
When it comes to overproduced studio schlock, my brother and I are connoisseurs. Sure, we enjoy competently-crafted movies, but nothing...
Before my parents separated, my father would tell me a bedtime story every night–anything from childhood memories of outrunning bulls in...
[Okay, so calling this a “film” is a huge stretch. Here’s how I see it: my childhood, my rules.] I was browsing the electronics section...
Early on in Last Action Hero, John McTiernan’s irreverent deconstruction of action movie tropes and cliches, child protagonist...
When I was a child, I believed in Peter Pan. I devoured every version of his story, from Disney’s animated interpretation to Mary...
You’re Next is a clever, creative, and often quite funny deconstruction of the home invasion horror genre that asks a single, deceptively...
Nicolas Winding Refn is one of the most diverse cinematic artists working today. You’d be hard pressed to find two movies as different as...
Depiction does not automatically equal endorsement. It’s an easy rule to remember, yet I’ve noticed lately that several critics and...
“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” isn't merely a title; it's a mission statement. It immediately evokes a vivid image, promising a celebration and/or...
“I’ll never talk!” silent film star George Valentin cries (via title card). And right there, in the opening seconds, The Artist tidily...
On a bit of a whim, I headed out to Cinema Village to see Five Fingers for Marseilles. IndieWire advertised it as a South African...
I feel bad for comparing Fireworks to Your Name, producer Genki Kawamura’s previous animated feature, but it’s almost impossible to...
Saw You Were Never Really Here at Angelika Film Center earlier today, and I’ve spent the past few hours struggling to articulate what I...
I feel as though I’m not fully prepared to write a proper review of The World’s End. The previous entries in Edgar Wright’s “Three...

