Five years ago, writer-director Mike Mills earned an Oscar nomination for 20th Century Women, a unique coming-of-age story and a testament to the "It takes a village" mentality in raising a family. It was one of the best films of the year, and it solidified my eternal crush on Greta Gerwig. Mills is back at … Continue reading A Cinematic Course in Child Psychology – C’mon C’mon
The sports biopic is one of the most formulaic subgenres in all of film. An absolute metric fuck ton of these movies follow a certain path, with initial success, slumps, redemption arcs, and a healthy dose of doubters, some of them outright racist if the protagonist is a minority. So when it was announced that … Continue reading Holding Court – King Richard
One of these days the Academy will bow to the gods of fun and lean into absurdity. There have been attempts in the past, all of which were tone deaf and utterly ill-advised, chasing hashtags rather than substance. I'm sure the trend will continue for a few more years to come. But somehow, someday, the … Continue reading Hot for Teacher – Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
I've made no secret that I don't think much of the animation slate this year, which is a real shame. Most years the Animated Feature category is one that Disney and/or Pixar wins by default, with either a lack of realistic competition, or just lazy Academy voters. The game-changing Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was the … Continue reading You Must Protect This House! – Encanto
It's a fine line that filmmakers have to walk when they're catering to a specific audience. Ideally, you want to create something that will not only satisfy that core group, but also have a wider appeal to draw in new fans. A lot of multimedia franchises pull off this gambit with varying degrees of success, … Continue reading Fan Service: The Movie – Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Just because I rattled off three International Feature reviews yesterday doesn't mean I've run out of entries to look at. I've still got two more submissions in the chamber, and I'll have two more by this time next week. It's an embarrassment of riches this year, with one hopeful after another getting the distribution and … Continue reading Throw Drama from the Train – Compartment No. 6
We're in the preliminary stages of next year's Oscar Blitz, with me sitting here eagerly anticipating the official announcement of specialty submissions before the shortlists come out on December 21. Part of that early zeal has included monitoring news feeds (and let's be honest, Wikipedia) for individual countries to announce their entries for International Feature, … Continue reading DownStream – Netflix International
Love him or hate him, Kenneth Branagh is inextricably associated with the works of William Shakespeare, due to his obsessive love of the Bard and his work, whether he's performing or directing. He's made film adaptations of five of Shakespeare's plays, most notably his star-studded version of Hamlet from 1996. But even in his more … Continue reading The Troubles with Growing Up – Belfast
Kosovo's short history as a nation has been a fraught one, filled with violence and so-called "ethnic cleansing" over the last 25 years. It is still a point of contention in the Balkan States as to its legal status, with Serbia refusing to recognize its independence, and continuing to claim the territory as an autonomous … Continue reading Bee-coming a Queen – Hive
Asghar Farhadi is inarguably one of the greatest filmmakers in the world. The Iranian director is part of a rare breed, having helmed two films that won the Oscar for International Feature, A Separation from 2011 and The Salesman from 2016, even though in the latter case Donald Trump's intolerably cruel Muslim ban prevented him … Continue reading You Can Only Hold Out So Long – A Hero
I Actually Paid To See This 