One of the cooler - and in my opinion more essential - features of recent cinema is the fact that Hollywood has put out a slew of great films dealing with music, particularly rock and R&B. They've run a particularly intriguing gambit from bombastic crowd-pleasers like Bohemian Rhapsody to insightful documentaries like Amazing Grace. And there are … Continue reading The Music That Truly Reverberates – Echo in the Canyon
In 2009, writer David Grann published a remarkable article in The New Yorker called "Trial By Fire." The rather lengthy piece (which you can still find here) describes the execution of a Texas man named Cameron Todd Willingham, convicted of the murder of his three daughters (one a toddler, the others twin infants) by way … Continue reading Where There’s Smoke… – Trial By Fire
After the well-orchestrated carnage of the latest John Wick film, I thought it might be nice to take in a less hyped action film from a still reliable source of entertainment. Frequent collaborators overseas, director Jesse V. Johnson and stunt actor Scott Adkins reunite for their latest project, the action-packed but unfortunately titled Avengment. Seriously, Sterling Archer … Continue reading No Need to Wonder How He Got the Scars – Avengement
Just over nine years ago, one of the better episodes of The Simpsons in its latter-day form aired. The 18th episode of Season 21, dubbed "Chief of Hearts," is a decently funny episode where Homer, forced into community service, bonds with Chief Clancy Wiggum, forming a friendship and giving Springfield's rotund Chief of Police a bit … Continue reading A Springfield Joke Becomes an Almost Great Horror Movie – Brightburn
As I've made abundantly clear on this blog over the past year-plus, I am not in favor of rebooting or remaking established movie franchises with gender-swapped leads in general, mostly because there's rarely any reason for it beyond, "Hey, let's do it with LADIES this time!" In most cases the entire gimmick is little more … Continue reading P-A-R-T-Why? ‘Cause I GOTTA! – Booksmart
Ten points if you get the reference in the headline (the points mean nothing). Anyway, Octavia Spencer is one of the best character actresses out there, and it's a shame that she's almost always shunted to the side into a supporting role, usually that of "sassy black friend." She's earned an Oscar for her efforts, … Continue reading Better Not Bring Yo Kids! – Ma
We're firmly into Summer Blockbuster season, and that means one of two strategies come to bear at the box office. Either the major studios will put out their biggest budget films against one another to battle it out for supremacy, or they'll space them out so that there's one default movie for audiences to watch … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – June 2019
Spring and summer blockbuster audiences tend to be quite fickle these days. The biggest case in point right now is Avengers: Endgame, which had the single biggest opening weekend in movie history, and is all but sure to be the top-grossing film of the year worldwide (and probably domestically as well). However, it's already been dethroned … Continue reading Take a Breath and Reload – John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum
Moorpark, California is located about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It is in this rural community of just over 30,000 that John and Molly Chester established Apricot Lane Farms in 2010, a venture borne out of necessity after the couple was evicted from their Santa Monica apartment due to the noise caused by their … Continue reading We Bought a Farm – The Biggest Little Farm
This is a review I've been waiting to write for a long time. In a weird way it makes a sort of logical sense. Tolkien, the Fox Searchlight biopic about the author of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" among others (and incidentally the first Searchlight release since the Disney acquisition), is not just … Continue reading It’s Always Been About the Journey and the Companions – Tolkien
I Actually Paid To See This 