EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best 21st Century movie about capitalism and class anxiety?

I gotta say, this topic was much tamer and quite the switch from the dangerous inquiry last week. Every generation and decade has their bumper crop of movies about our American capitalizm. In my lifetime, I point to Wall Street in the 80s and Boiler Room in the 90s. For this century, I went sentimental more than combative. The Big Short was a tempting second place choice.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the most “dangerous” movie of this century?

I’m not a believer that movies can incite violence, but I am a big believer that they can incite stupidity. Just like the poor fitness and health that comes from when all you eat is garbage, a mind can be trashed the same way. I put the school teacher hat on for my response to this week’s survey question and I don’t care if I get laughed at. Danger to me is seeing the youth of America in my classrooms accepting the Minions as high quality entertainment worth their screen time.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best biopic performance of all-time?

After a month off to accomodate the heart of festival season for David Ehrlich, the IndieWire Critics Survey returned this week to point at Renee Zellweger’s raved performance in Judy. The question was posed of what is the best biopic performance of all-time. A year ago, the question of the best biopic movie has been done on this survey (where I picked Raging Bull). For single performance, I went more musical.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best movie of this summer?

To end the month, David Ehrlich went for the season-ending trophy designation. He called upon us writers, podcasters, and more to tell us which film was the best of the summer. Personally, I think it was a substandard and lemon-filled summer comapred to years past. Redemption came in the form is several late-breaking exemplars that landed in July and early August. I repped one of those little guys as my pick for this week.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best performance in a Richard Linklater movie?

After a small pause in early August, the IndieWire Critics Survey returned in time for the the release of Where’d You Go, Bernadette from renowned Texas filmmaker Richard Linklater. I count as a very positive fan of his work with the Before Trilogy and Boyhood on the drama side and Everybody Wants Some!! and School of Rock on the comedy end. When it comes to the best, I pick the biggest transformation of range that came from Jack Black in Bernie. What a stunner of a character shift from an actor compared to his usual.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: What is the best Quentin Tarantino movie and why?

Friends and followers of my work and opinions on social media know that I differentiate “favorite” from “best.” Favorites are personal and very subjective. The things that are best tend to have a few more objective qualities and victories going for them. Sometimes a movie is both. For Quentin Tarantino, that’s not the case for me, but it’s close. My personal favorite is Jackie Brown. I love seeing what QT does within the boundaries of material that’s not his own, which, for me, shows more range that his absolute best self-made stuff. The best-of-the-best, though, is still an easy pick.