The immigration issue has been at the forefront of American politics for decades, but perhaps never more so than in the last 10 years, thanks to the virulent racism of Donald Trump and those of his ilk. Even with a much saner Executive in the White House, little seems possible to rectify this highly-nuanced issue … Continue reading Shameless, But Not Soulless – Blue Bayou
As I mentioned in this month's edition of "This Film is Not Yet Watchable," it's curious, if not downright depressing, that this October doesn't really appear to have any great options for horror films. There's Antlers, which looks to have some promise, and the utterly surreal Lamb, which I didn't include because I still don't … Continue reading IT’S NOT A TUMOR! – Malignant
I love October. It honestly might be my favorite month of the year. My mother's birthday is at the beginning, and my nephew's is at the end. There's costumes and candy to be had on Halloween, as well as some good-natured scares. When I lived on the east coast, it was the time when fall … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – October 2021
There's no two ways about it, last year was utterly depressing when it came to movies. Part of it, obviously, was the effects of the COVID pandemic all but shuttering the film industry, with serious doubts lingering about its ability to survive. But even what little we did get was definitely on the down side … Continue reading Es Muy Bueno – Language Lessons
The films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe tend to follow a fairly set formula at this point, especially for the origin stories. You get the standard hero's journey archetype of an otherwise mild-mannered person thrust into a supernatural situation beyond their control. There are a couple of good action scenes to make up for the … Continue reading Endure the Bad for the Really Good – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Hello, everyone! It's been a little bit of a hiatus due to my most recent project (People Puzzler, season 2, debuting Monday, 9/27 on GSN!), but I wrapped yesterday, which means I'm finally able to properly catch up on reviews and get back to regular movie watching. Thanks for sticking with me. Anyhoo, it's somewhat … Continue reading Talk to Me Like Lovers Do – Together
One of the sad side effects of the COVID pandemic was the complete reshuffling of the movie release schedule, by necessity, due to the shuttering of theatres nationwide. Some films went online, others got delayed multiple times, and some appear to be all but abandoned at this point. For me, the biggest hit was that … Continue reading Same Old Song and Dance – Respect
First things first, my apologies for not getting this column out sooner, as we're already into Labor Day Weekend, and some of the "films" (air quotes) mentioned here have already been released. The last few weeks have been insanely busy with my 9-to-5, leaving very little time to take care of business here. I still … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – September 2021
It really is amazing to me how wide the chasm of quality is between movies based on existing video games and those based on the general ideas and concepts of video games. In my near-40 years, I've only enjoyed two direct adaptations, the 1995 Mortal Kombat, which as I've noted was a perfect storm of … Continue reading He’s Your Buddy, Friend! – Free Guy
I mentioned in my review of The Sparks Brothers (which remains the best theatrically-released documentary I've seen this year) that one of the few setbacks for Ron and Russ Mael in their careers was the collapse of a collaboration with director Tim Burton on a feature film. However, as noted, even that heartbreak has since … Continue reading A Puppet Cheer – Annette
