The Denouement – John Wick: Chapter 4

"You are now in the presence of the muthafuckin' KING!" proclaims Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King in the opening moments of John Wick: Chapter 4. Presumably he's referring to himself, given his self-appointed title as leader of a network of homeless assassins and informants, but given that he prefaces this line with text from … Continue reading The Denouement – John Wick: Chapter 4

Back Row Thoughts – The Blitz Campaign

We're less than 72 hours away from this year's Academy Awards, and as happens every year, I didn't get to see everything before nominations were revealed. I did better than I've ever done before, coming up just five shy of pre-announcement totality, and in three of the five cases, the films weren't readily available, with … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Blitz Campaign

Back Row Thoughts – Animation Nomination, Part 4

We're officially one week from the 95th Academy Awards, and in these final days, the task falls upon me to begin officially closing the book on 2022 cinema. I was able to clear the vast majority of the Oscar nominees before they were even announced, and in my pursuit of hopefuls and also-rans after the … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Nomination, Part 4

Pick a Damn Lane! – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

In the vast and infinite incompetence, er, wisdom of Kevin Feige, the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are now canonically and collectively referred to as "The Infinity Saga." Phase Four, which began with Black Widow and will continue through Phase Six, is called "The Multiverse Saga." Now, the idea of several parallel … Continue reading Pick a Damn Lane! – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Back Row Thoughts: Doc’s Orders – Part 4

Well folks, we made it. After nearly two months of searching, planning, and running all over creation, we've once again reached the end of the Documentary Feature shortlist. This year was harder than most, as a lot of non-fiction films flew completely under the radar. Only a few got full-on theatrical releases, while the vast … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts: Doc’s Orders – Part 4