We're a day away from the Academy announcing the shortlists for the specialty categories, most prominently International Feature and Documentary Feature. As such, it's only appropriate to take a look at a couple of films that may have their names called tomorrow, one from each category. Both of these movies are quite good, so you … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Growing Up
Less than two weeks ago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially released their lists of eligible films in three specialty categories, including Animated Feature, which had a bit of controversy in the run-up. Movies like Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Eternal Spring were initially going to be left out due … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Nomination, Part 1
Get your minds out of the gutter right this instant! And then put them back in, because obviously I chose that headline for the sake of a lame sex joke. If you've been following along with any regularity to this point, it's honestly a wonder I didn't make such a gag before now. Anyhoo, we're … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – A Foreign Threesome
If you've been keeping up with the blog over the last several weeks, you'll know that "keeping up" has been a bit of an issue for me. Between various factors in my personal life, working the election, and my simple desire to sleep, I've been getting out to movies, but I haven't been nearly as … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – A Weekend Abroad
While I've done my best to keep up with mainstream and independent cinema in the first full year back from COVID restrictions, there are two areas where I have been decidedly negligent, namely documentaries and foreign films. For the former, I haven't been able to make time for any this year, mostly because none have … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Better Late Than Never
Two weeks ago, I finally righted a wrong. There are very few regrets I have in my life, especially when it comes to movies. Even the worst films imaginable don't truly elicit a feeling of remorse or shame. But 29 years ago, I had one of those rare moments. I've mentioned this offhandedly before, but … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts: Everything is Correctable
Well folks, the last major hurdle of this year's Oscar Blitz is complete. With the viewing of Great Freedom last week, all films to view in and around the ceremony have been seen. I can officially close the book on the 2021 cinematic canon. We've still got two more weeks left of Oscar coverage, of … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – And the Rest… of the Blitz
No Oscars category breakdown today, but I still have several films to add to the official 2021 canon with reviews before the process is truly complete. In a previous installment of "Back Row Thoughts," we looked at three movies where their leads were nominated for Best Actress. So why not continue recapping highlighted films that … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Make-Up Makeup Blitz
Man, it's been a while, hasn't it? I covered the vast majority of the Academy's shortlist for Documentary Feature nearly two months ago. And even after that, I watched two of the three remaining films within a couple of days. There was just one left, which OF COURSE also got nominated, and I couldn't watch … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – I’ve Got a Little List, Part 4
When the Oscar nominations came out this past Tuesday, I ended up with more than half the categories already covered, which was definitely a good start. And all told, I only had eight total movies to watch to complete the viewing portion of this year's Blitz. Despite that, there were two categories that were not … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Best? Actress Blitz
I Actually Paid To See This 