Ken Ilgunas

Avatar 2 (2021) - Avatar 2 got only a 77% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes. I agree that it felt long and some expensive details (the little underwater vessels launched from the bowels of the whaling ship) seemed unnecessary. Yet I feel like you have no choice but to give *the most amazing visual cinematic experience* a thumbs up—because that is indeed what it was. My biggest gripe is that they cast Sigourney Weaver to play a teenage girl. With her, I couldn’t suspend disbel

Every ten years, the British Film Institute (BFI) revises its list of the greatest 100 movies ever. A month ago, the BFI published its latest list. As a film appreciator, film devourer, and (for a few classes) film student, I was appalled that I hadn’t seen 49 of them. Not only that, but I hadn’t even heard of number one! (More on that later.) Of the 51 films I had seen, I’d say roughly 90 percent are characterized by bleakness, opacity, and tragedy. Very few were pleasurable

My 16-year-old nephew is a budding cinephile, and after asking me for film recommendations, I went overboard and made a list of — not the greatest — but my favorite 175 films. It's a list that is unashamedly middlebrow, with a few surprises mixed in. As I review my list, I wonder if, in some cases, I've been over-influenced by the usual honors bestowed on some movies. (Are Bicycle Thieves and The Godfather truly "favorites," or am I merely trying to conform with the critical

Movies The White Ribbon (Germany, 2009) - Director Michael Haneke may be making the case that Germany’s descent into 20th Century madness had deeper roots than mere top-down psychopathy. We see, in a pre-WWI village, authoritarian parents, overbearing religion, and inexplicable moral monstrosities—the diseases supposedly rotting Germany’s core. It’s bleak, but more watchable than it sounds. An innocent courtship at the heart of the movie adds sweetness to what may have othe

Every half an hour I check for updates on Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin. Watching Hamlin collapse after a hard but routine hit — and seeing the grief-stricken faces of his teammates as the doctors performed CPR — were the most disturbing images I’ve seen during a sports match. (Because I’m in Germany, I saw the footage in morning recaps and highlights, which were no less sickening.) Will the next piece of news be about Hamlin’s death? Or will there soon be a photo of him in his