The Coens are at the point now in their careers where they get to make a new movie almost every year. I think we should all take a moment to contemplate how fortunate we all are.

…

I’m not going to say that Joel and Ethan Coen are incapable of making a bad film. I’ve heard that Burn After Reading was terrible from every single person who’s seen it. We’re all human here on this little planet, and I’d almost be disappointed if they don’t squeeze out another stinker sometime or another. But True Grit isn’t that film. Nope, it’s just another jewel in their crown of daunting cinematic achievement.

Deep breath… Okay.

This is such good filmmaking. I could go on and on about how great and amazing and whatever Danny Boyle is, but that would be foolish. Instead, I’ll do my best to try to capture with words and sentences some part of how I felt about his latest film.

It’s about this time of year that people start shouting out what they believe to be the “essential” Christmas movies. What makes my list any more significant than anyone else’s? Nothing. And so I’ll begin. These are roughly in order from least Christmas-spirited to most Christmas-spirited. Enjoy.

Is this my first Harry Potter review on Rhombus? I think it is.

Well then. You probably haven’t heard my theory. I’ll save it for the end so that you don’t decide to prematurely stop reading this review of the most recent film.

This is not a DVD review. I don’t do those, although I probably should. I wish I was one of those people who watches all the special features on the DVDs. It would make me a better film scholar and filmmaker. But I’m not. Maybe I will be one day.

Anyway.

This is about the three times I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World in theaters. I figured now would be a good time to say something, since the DVD did, in fact, come out a little over a week ago. And you should go buy it. It is one of the Five-Rhombi (out of five Rhombi) films of the year.

Most people don’t pay much attention to screenwriters. I don’t know why. There is no better indication of whether you’ll love or hate a film than who wrote it. It’s not foolproof, of course, since maybe it’s the writer’s first feature. And sometimes a good writer can write a not-so-good script. Even so, everyone ought to spend more time looking into writers, because here’s a fact: you can’t make a good movie out of a bad script. And almost as fundamental is the notion that a good script almost never gets made into a really bad film.

Everyone in the world knows how hot Angelina Jolie is. Barack Obama is the United States’ first black president, Iran is making atomic weapons, and Angelina Jolie looks really good in tight clothing. It’s just one of the facts had by the entire international community.