Author Archives: Sammie Purcell

“The devil’s music” is a phrase that has been weaponized about many genres – rock ‘n’ roll, jazz – throughout history. When Pastor Jedidiah (Saul Williams) uses the phrase to his son, Sammie (Miles Caton), he’s referring to the blues.  Given that “Sinners” – Ryan Coogler’s new vampire movie – opens with Sammie covered in […]

There’s something to be said for predictability – for coziness and safety, so to speak. And “The Ballad of Wallis Island” might be the coziest movie to come along in quite awhile. And I mean that in the most positive way possible.  Directed by James Griffiths with a screenplay from Tim Key and Tom Basden, […]

“We Want the Funk” starts just as a documentary about funk music should – with musician Marcus Miller slapping that bass.  Miller’s bass solo sets the tone for the rest of “We Want the Funk,” which is just as full of musical moments as it is talking head interviews (in some cases, there are literal […]

Long ago, Disney apparently made the executive decision to relegate its new, live-action remake of “Snow White” to movie jail – tucked away from the public eye before it even had the chance to premiere.  The production has long been mired by a slew of controversies, some far bigger than others (the online ire star Rachel […]

Rock operas and concept albums are a time-honored tradition: “Tommy,” “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars,” “American Idiot,” you name it. Rock and roll is full of these extravagant, genre-defining works that reach euphoric, theatrical height, and push their listeners and viewers into the stratosphere right alongside them.  “O’Dessa,” […]

When he’s not playing spy, George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) likes to spend his free time fishing.  A little ways through “Black Bag,” Steven Soderbergh’s sleek, sexy spy thriller, George takes fellow British intelligence agent James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page) on one of his afternoon fishing trips. James may have information that George needs, so here “fishing” is really […]

There’s a moment in “Superboys of Malegaon” where Nasir (Adarsh Gourav), a young aspiring filmmaker, watches a Bruce Lee movie with his girlfriend. When she laments how sad it is that Lee died so young, Nasir turns to her and says: “He’s not dead. Just look! See how he kicks.”  Film, Nasir believes, can make […]

Hollywood has a long history of rescue movies; men trapped in terrifying situations while a separate group of men figure out how to get them out. “Black Hawk Down,” “Captain Phillips,” even something like Tony Scott’s “Unstoppable” – audiences have always gotten a kick out of watching someone survive something extraordinary.  The newest addition to […]

During the Holocaust, a man in a concentration camp attempts to distract a child from the horrors surrounding them through humor.  You probably clocked this logline as the plot of 1997’s “Life is Beautiful.” Directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, “Life is Beautiful” was one of the most lauded films of that awards season, winning […]

Moments before siccing a group of goons on Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) – AKA, Captain America – Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), who serves as the big bad of “Captain America: Brave New World,” gives Cap the once over and says, with as much mirth as he can muster: “You’re a fascinating problem.”  Oh, how […]

There’s a particular scene that takes place in a car in “No Other Land” – Basel, a Palestinian activist living in the Masafer Yatta community in the West Bank, is driving. Yuval, an Israeli journalist, sits in the passenger seat, fretting over the lack of traction his articles about the forced expulsion of Palestinians from […]

Early on in Andres Veiel’s documentary “Riefenstahl,” Leni Riefenstahl says that she believes the opposite of politics is art. “If you feel things intensely as an artist … you live your life so ardently, so intensely, so passionately, that there’s no room for interest in real world issues,” she says. The interviewer, to his credit, pushes […]

Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has long been interested in experimenting with form. Using an iPhone to shoot movies like “Unsane” and “High Flying Bird;” recutting “Raiders of the Lost Ark” to be a black and white silent film; putting Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” alongside Gus Van Sant’s 1998 remake to create a new film, aptly titled “Psychos;” […]

Sometimes, you’re so scared of your kids getting scars, you become the thing that scars them. In “Wolf Man,” Blake (Christopher Abbott) voices this thought to his young daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), drawing upon his experiences growing up in rural Oregon with his own strict father (Sam Jaeger). The quote brings up questions of cycles […]

The first thing you see in “Babygirl” is a shot of Romy Mathis’ face during sex.  Writer/director Halina Reijn spends a lot of time on this image. Romy (Nicole Kidman), a high-powered tech CEO, is having sex with her husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas). The camera stays with Romy, ensuring you get a sense of how […]

Over the course of film history, there have been six versions of the story of “Nosferatu” (or at least six that I can find on the internet). And that’s to say nothing of the countless “Dracula” films that have also graced our screens over the years.  The first of these films, from German Expressionist director […]

In 2007, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” hit theaters and ruined the musical biopic forever.  No one was safe. “Ray,” “La Bamba,” you name it; whatever the movie, “Walk Hard” probably skewered it in some fashion or another. But no film felt the presence of “Walk Hard” more than James Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic […]

Much like there was a lot of chatter about the sex in Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” seven years ago, there has been a lot of talk about the sex in his new film “Queer” – but for very different reasons.  If you’ll come back with me to 2017, you might remember some […]

Since 2016, director Pablo Larraín has made three films about culturally significant women of the 20th century. “Jackie” (Jackie Kennedy) leans into camp and melodrama; “Spencer” (Princess Diana) took elements from gothic horror: and “Maria” (Maria Callas) is an opera.  If you’ve ever heard Maria Callas sing, you’ve probably never forgotten the sound. Her voice […]

“Let me tell you the whole story.” That’s how Glinda (Ariana Grande) opens up “Wicked.” A lie, really, because she will only be telling you half the story – “Wicked” is just a part one, with the second movie slated to come out next year.  The decision to split the story into two films has […]