If you've ever read this blog for more than a day, then you know how much I love animation as an artform and as a storytelling device. What you may not know is that my favorite animated film of all time is Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. I can objectively … Continue reading The Forest for the Trees – The Deer King
Back in May, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled their rule changes for next year's Oscars. Apart from a few cosmetic changes, like renaming the Documentary categories ever so slightly, the major news is that the eligibility guidelines are close to fully reverting back to their original, pre-pandemic state. No longer will … Continue reading DownStream – Spring Cleaning
As I mentioned in this month's edition of "The Worst Trailer in the World" (currently hovering around 5,000 views; seriously, I love you all!), I really liked the original Despicable Me film. I enjoyed the idea of a villain learning to see the good in himself and apply that to other people once he became … Continue reading Despicable Pre – Minions: The Rise of Gru
I've been a fan of Jenny Slate for a long time. She's a tremendous actress, one of the funniest comedians in the world, and an almost unequaled voice talent. In particular, her work on Bob's Burgers, The Great North, and Big Mouth is just astounding. She has an almost unparalleled ability to breathe life into … Continue reading Great Thing in a Small Package – Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Baz Luhrmann has directed six feature films over the course of his career to date. Of the previous five, the only one I really enjoyed was Romeo + Juliet, mostly because it was a novel concept at the time to put a modern spin on Shakespeare, blending the dialogue with a 20th Century backdrop. It … Continue reading A Hero to Most – Elvis
Scott Derrickson is a fairly accomplished filmmaker, spending the better part of the last 20 years establishing some serious credibility in the realm of horror. Between the Sinister series, Deliver Us From Evil, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose, the man knows how to reach fans of the genre. Curiously, though, his success led to … Continue reading It’s For You – The Black Phone
Remember how earlier this month I was advocating for a cinematic universe of quirky, daft, lovable British disruptors? First we had The Duke, then The Phantom of the Open. Now we can add Brian and Charles to the list. Seriously, let's keep going with this. It's infinitely more clever and enjoyable than anything Marvel or … Continue reading My, Robot – Brian and Charles
Last year, I noted in my review of The Last Duel that a lot of goodwill in that film was squandered by an inappropriately manipulative bit of on-screen text. In that particular case, a story that delved into the nuance of personal perspective when it came to a serious crime that led to a duel … Continue reading Toy’s Story – Lightyear
Despite my inordinate amount of snark and cynicism, I'm being completely honest when I say that I want to see the positive in just about everything. Even for a film like Jurassic World Dominion, the teaser of which I named as "The Worst Trailer in the World... This Month," one that I knew based on … Continue reading Insert Extinction Joke Here – Jurassic World Dominion
As I watched the utterly delightful The Phantom of the Open the other day, I had an odd thought. Given all of the various movie franchises we've got crammed into our collective consciousness these days, this film provides an opportunity for something truly groundbreaking. What we need are cinematic universes where Mark Rylance gets to … Continue reading The Road to Perfection – The Phantom of the Open
I Actually Paid To See This 