Joseph PrywellerJul 18, 20205 min readSHIRLEY: THE HAUNTING OF JACKSON'S HOUSEShirley Jackson was known to get under the skin. Her most famous work, the short story "The Lottery," concerned a women who wakes to the...
Joseph PrywellerJul 12, 20201 min readRESOLUTIONSThe cat-iris greens, the reds of the eyes The dull blinkered yellow of anticipation, Decisions made in a vacuum, air swirling like stars....
Joseph PrywellerJul 12, 20202 min readSOMETHING FROM NOTHINGWhere do I go when there is nowhere to go What do I do when there is nothing to do How do I cope when there is nothing to cope with What...
Joseph PrywellerJul 12, 20201 min readTHE COLLECTORRun like the wind, move like a banshee, power and propulsion For naught is those who stand still and do not venture Beyond the backyard,...
Joseph PrywellerJul 12, 20205 min readDA 5 BLOODS: SPIKE LEE'S RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLEWhat's going on? With Marvin Gaye's protest music providing the jolting backdrop for Spike Lee's latest joint, Da 5 Bloods, the following...
Joseph PrywellerMay 25, 20206 min readThe Lessons of Network in a Post-Modern WorldGo ahead, open up the window, stick out your head and say it three times loud: I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!...
Joseph PrywellerMay 10, 20205 min readTHE GRADUATE: THE SOUNDS OF LONELY SILENCEIt is a movie about choices, the wrong ones and the right ones and what do when you're not certain which are which. It is a movie about...
Joseph PrywellerApr 29, 20205 min readWHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD ROCK MOVIES GONE?What's so funny about peace, love, understanding and making a really good rock movie that's not just another easy biography? The former...
Joseph PrywellerApr 25, 20204 min readLEAVE NO TRACE: MOVIES OF ISOLATIONThis occasional series will look at overlooked films on popular streaming services -- Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix -- that are well...
Joseph PrywellerApr 24, 20204 min readTHE FAREWELL: PUT ON A HAPPY FACEThere is delusion that means unnecessarily avoiding confronting a grimmer reality and delusion that is sometimes necessary to survive....
Joseph PrywellerApr 19, 20204 min readMIDSOMMAR: HEALING EQUALS HORRORDepending on your view of the world, Midsommar -- the 2019 horror movie from Ari Aster, who directed the equally sinister Hereditary --...
Joseph PrywellerMar 14, 20205 min readGROWING UP UNLOVED: MOVIES OF REBELLIONRebel Without a Cause really gets the heart beating when the world is blown to bits. In an iconic scene near the beginning of the movie,...
Joseph PrywellerMar 7, 20204 min readWINE, ROSES AND WHISKEY Addiction, in the form of mental illness and recovery, is a powerful reminder of the weakness in all of us and our sometimes-lethal...
Joseph PrywellerFeb 9, 20205 min readPARASITE: LIFE UNDERGROUNDThe division of the classes has been a consistent movie theme since the cinema's early days. Charlie Chaplin's tramp came from those...
Joseph PrywellerFeb 9, 20204 min readJOJO RABBIT: CUTE, CLOYING, CONFUSEDI went into a screening of Taiki Waititi's Jojo Rabbit uncertain what to expect. This tale of an 11-year-old German boy talking to...
Joseph PrywellerFeb 1, 20205 min readLIttle Women: THE ENDS OF AMBITIONThere is plenty of irony in Greta Gerwig's fine adaption of Little Women. Most of it comes from the fact that while marriage and career...
Joseph PrywellerJan 12, 20205 min readMacho Men Night at the MoviesI've just finished watching the 1963 World War II film The Great Escape, a daring, almost three-hour-long account of an attempted...
Joseph PrywellerJan 9, 20205 min readThe Subtle Subversivness of Mister RogersAs I walked out of a movie theater on a cold winter afternoon after seeing It's a Beautiful Day, I heard a couple remark how the film was...
Joseph PrywellerJan 4, 20204 min readUncut Gems: Ambition as AmmunitionIn Uncut Gems, the wild ride of a movie from Josh and Benny Safdie, a black opal diamond can bring mystical powers. According to one...
Joseph PrywellerDec 30, 20195 min readThe Irishman: A Moral Slippery SlopeTo paraphrase, Friedrich Nietzsche, morality comes in two flavors. There is the Judeo-Christian-based form that favors moral kindness and...
