My Courses

Most simply described, Miguel Gomes’s “Grand Tour” tells the story of Edward (Gonçalo Waddington), a British official in Myanmar, who in January 1918 goes on the run from his fiancée, Molly (Crista Alfaiate). The journey takes him to Singapore, Bangkok, Saigon, Osaka, and Shanghai, among other places. She follows him the whole way, sending him telegrams—which…

The success of “Pulp Fiction” inspired a flood of films and a fair number of TV shows; I recently wrote about one of them for this site, 1999’s “Go.” But one of the many things that’s fascinating about the “Pulp Fiction” derivatives is that they all zero in on a different aspect of Quentin Tarantino’s hit crime thriller and…

Beyond the competition, there are dozens of other films to be captivated by here at Cannes, many solidly fitting under the “genre” umbrella. For decades, these films have never received the respect of auteur-driven institutions like Cannes. But given the state of the global marketplace and how these elements of action, horror, etc. have proved…

“Sight” tells the extraordinary story of Dr. Ming Wang, from the oppressions of China’s decade-long Cultural Revolution to his move to America (where he earned an MD from Harvard and a Ph.D from MIT). It then moves to his pioneering work developing eye surgery that has restored sight to millions of children.  In an interview with…

People like to speak about a golden era of movies—the precise dimensions of which often shift based on the generation of the speaker—when Hollywood made products that were sexier, smarter, and just generally better. Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” is for them.  Like its protagonist’s ability to basically change identities depending on the situation, it’s a film…