I'll be right upfront with you guys. I don't like Terrence Malick movies. With the exception of The Thin Red Line, every film of his I've seen can basically be reduced to two bullet points: Beautifully shot, but unbelievably pretentious. A decade ago, baffling praise was heaped upon him for The Tree of Life, which I … Continue reading Snail Mail at a Snail’s Pace – A Hidden Life
The late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch proponent of capital punishment, once famously said that there had not been, "a single case—not one—in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit." That firebrand assertion implies that if it were ever proven that an innocent man … Continue reading Forgive, Don’t Forget – Clemency
It's amazing how something plain and simple can expand into something beyond belief or control. It happens every day. A rumor spreads fast and loose, ballooning into an outright scandal. A traffic accident at the wrong time and place can escalate into a humongous multi-car pileup. A moment of levity from a mother and a … Continue reading The March of War! – 1917
The Oscar nominations are right around the corner, and I've still got a pretty sizable backlog of movies to review. Thankfully, I can give you two for the price of one (or a billion, it's all free) with one more edition of "DownStream." While not nearly as aggressive as Netflix, Amazon Prime has put out … Continue reading DownStream – Prime Viewing
Today marks two years since this blog began, and what better way to celebrate than to take a look back at the movies I've loved? Going to movies has always been my favorite activity (even though it occasionally bugs my girlfriend), and I've seen a lot over the last decade - over 650 in fact. … Continue reading The Top 100 of the 2010s
The Academy Award nominations are just under a week away, and as the final preview, we now have the list of contenders for the major Hollywood labor unions and the British Film Academy! There's a lot to sift through, and as the results trickle in over the next few weeks, we'll get a lot of … Continue reading Unions, Jack! – BAFTA and Guild Nominations Announced!
In my review of Richard Jewell, I mentioned that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution demanded the film contain a disclaimer that the events and characters within were mostly imagined for dramatic purposes, due to the film's harsh, sexist, ill-conceived, and almost certainly fabricated depiction of Kathy Scruggs, who's been dead nearly 20 years and has no way of … Continue reading The Existence of a Villain Does Not Make Heroes – Bombshell
I'm on record as very much NOT being a fan of the Golden Globes. The nomination process is a sham that borders on bribery, the entire ceremony is a glorified cocktail party so less than 100 journalists can rub elbows with celebrities and pretend they're part of the creative process, and the whole affair is … Continue reading Hey Netflix, Your Check Bounced – 77th Golden Globe Winners Revealed!
I've noted in this space multiple times that I do not care for remakes and reboots, because more often than not, they're just cynical cash grabs by the studios, taking advantage of an audience that doesn't care to notice. Every once in a great while I do enjoy them, though, and will watch them with … Continue reading Even the Saddest Moments Can Spark Joy – Little Women
The balls have dropped, my friends! And while I still have a huge backlog of reviews to do (plus year/decade retrospectives and upcoming Oscar coverage), you didn't seriously think I'd forget to put on my Hater O'Haterly hat for our monthly slog through shit, did you? Of course I can't let this slip away. January … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – January 2020
I Actually Paid To See This 