Twenty-fours after seeing Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I was still thinking about it. I watched the movie over a decade ago and I still ponder its mysteries, much in the same way I considered Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. The common link with all three, of course, is screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, arguably the […]

It is a good thing I like history. Operation Finale is the story of how a team of Israeli Mossad agents captured Adolf Eichmann, one of the top Nazi SS officers and main organizers of the Holocaust. Eichmann was discovered living in Argentina under a false identity, captured in 1960 and taken to Israel, where […]

Just brutal. As I have been thinking about what to say about Mile 22, I spent some time perusing other reviews to see what other critics have been saying. Of note, the early-review embargo for Mile 22 was not lifted until Thursday, so pickings were slim. The initial consensus was that the movie is a […]

2 hours 15 minutes, Rated R for bombings and lynchings. Fair Value of BlacKkKlansman (2018): $12.00. Its the first film I’ve seen this summer worthy of a Best Picture nomination. Invisible Empire: Racism is the central ideology of the American Empire. I know you’re going to throw democracy and liberty in my face- but that’s […]

I’m meltiiiiinnnnngggg. Am I a bad parent for taking my six year-old to see The Meg? Maybe. In my defense, he really, REALLY wanted to see it. I am not saying it is a good defense, just a defense that is slightly more effective than that of the Cleveland Browns. Hi Clevelanders. At some point, […]

First Reformed Throughout my long and unspectacular career with Ruthless, I have taken great glee in skewering and ridiculing religious-themed movies. Sometimes because they are so transparent and bad, like in The Case For Christ. Other times because they reveal the utter bankruptcy and cruelty of their associated superstitions (The Breadwinner). First Reformed is another […]

Coming from the position of not knowing his earlier output, this take might be limited but better to have tried and failed, right? Nicolas Winding Refn occupies a unique place among active filmmakers, but also a precarious one. Revered without being critic-proof, his films decidedly garner polarizing sentiment. As a whole his later filmography forms […]