The superhero parody is nothing new. Pretty much ever since comic books hit the mainstream there's been a subset of the genre that pokes fun at the concepts and tropes. For every Superman there's a Deadpool, for every Batman a Kick-Ass. Now, writer/director Ben Falcone, in his fifth collaboration with his wife Melissa McCarthy, brings … Continue reading This Movie Will Give You Crabs – Thunder Force
Every year there are a few categories at the Oscars where the result basically goes without saying. A lot of those times, we're talking about the Acting categories. Over the last decade, a minimum of two of the four winners were decided well in advance of Oscar Night, and even among the ones that weren't … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Best Actor
It's somewhat appropriate that I'm handling this category tonight. Part of the focus is on set design, and today I started on set with my latest job, mostly watching the technicians and builders put the set together so we can start shooting tomorrow. It's what we call "synergy," folks. Anyway, as I am not a … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Production Design
It's arguably harder to write a great adapted screenplay than it is to write an original one. With an original script, you can pretty much do anything. You come up with the story, the characters, everything. The sky is the limit. However, with adapted scripts, there can sometimes seem like there's a sense of obligation … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Adapted Screenplay
This is often a tricky category year-to-year for a variety of reasons. For one thing, it's one of the few that can still have fewer than five nominees. In 2011, only two songs were nominated, and two years later one was disqualified, giving us four. The current rules state that the category will have either … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Original Song
If there's any one category that gives me fits and anxiety attacks year in and year out, it's this one. It's not that the entrants are bad by any means, it's simply a matter of access. The eligibility calendar for International Feature submissions shifts back a couple of months before the general ballot, so as … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – International Feature
I have a major problem with horror movies that focus its terrors on religious mythology, specifically Judeo-Christian. It's not that religion can't be scary. Just look at The Exorcist, one of the greatest films of all time, and not just for the horror genre. My issue is that for the vast majority of these films, … Continue reading Cinematic Evidence That God Doesn’t Exist – The Unholy
After 2019's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, I had two meaningful requests for the inevitable clash between Gojira and King Kong. The first was that we'd have some combat take place during the day, so we could actually see what's going on, instead of that film's sickly rain-on-night blue darkness that obscured just about everything. … Continue reading Monster Trash – Godzilla vs. Kong
I have to say, there was a slight chance I wasn't going to be able to do tonight's post. I had to take my computer into the shop for a battery issue, and while I knew nothing truly terrible was going to happen, there was always the chance at a 1-2 day delay depending on … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Supporting Actress
I've spent over 10 years of my life as a professional editor in addition to my writing. Eight of those years were at ESPN, and the rest was at Fox Sports. It's not that I'm particularly better at editing sports than anything else, it's just a matter of familiarity with the equipment and operating systems. … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2021 – Film Editing
