As I mentioned in October's edition of "This Film is Not Yet Watchable," the new version of Dune is that ultra-rare film that not only clears the bar to pass my personal "Remake Rule," it offered multiple reasons to outright endorse the effort, at least from what I could see in the trailer. You have … Continue reading Grand Scale, Small Voices – Dune
I've mentioned before that the films of Wes Anderson are fairly hit and miss for me. He is no doubt a great writer and spectacular visual artist, creating brilliantly whimsical set pieces that feel like living in a painting at times. But how that fanciful approach hits you is essentially a crap shoot. For me, … Continue reading As Fun As Having a Magazine Read to You – The French Dispatch
Nearly 25 years ago, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, already decently well-known actors, made their breakthrough to superstardom with Good Will Hunting, which the childhood friends co-wrote and starred in. The pair won the Oscar for Original Screenplay, along with Robin Williams winning Best Supporting Actor. The collaboration placed them squarely on Hollywood's A-list, a … Continue reading A Matter of Perspective – The Last Duel
I've mentioned before that this year has been relatively weak when it comes to animation. We've had one half-decent but underwhelming core Disney movie, one of the worst Pixar entries outside of the Cars series, and several ill-advised sequels to the likes of The Addams Family and The Boss Baby. The only real triumph in … Continue reading Who Wants to Be Right? – Ron’s Gone Wrong
In 2018, a youth soccer team in Thailand got trapped deep inside a mountain cave after heavy rains flooded the tunnels and passages that they used to get in, an early storm that signaled the onset of monsoon season. In the nearly three weeks that followed, a massive international effort was undertaken to get those … Continue reading You Couldn’t Script it Better – The Rescue
Oh, did I say we were going to do three reviews in a row for International Feature submissions? Make that four! And within a couple of weeks, that number may very well be up to six, as Kosovo and Japan's entries are getting their stateside releases later this month as well. But for the time … Continue reading Belittled Man in the Boat – Luzzu
For the third in our unintentional continuing series on International Oscar submissions, we look at Lamb, from Iceland, a film much better than the lame pun I used in the headline. Directed by Valdimar Jóhansson in his feature debut, the movie has all the earmarks of a great, slow burn bit of horror, with just … Continue reading It Had to Be Ewe – Lamb
More often than not, I appreciate it when a filmmaker decides to take a risk and tries something beyond the standard conventions of storytelling and genre. I'm much more forgiving of a bonkers movie that falls short on quality than I am to a mundane film that's presented competently but just ends up checking boxes. … Continue reading Auto Erotic Ex Fixation – Titane
I've been falling behind with my content lately, and for that I apologize. The last several weeks have been hectic, and the desire to sleep has won out over many other priorities, including this blog. Trust me, this is not how I normally operate. I pride myself on being super punctual and try to do … Continue reading How I Met Your Motherboard – I’m Your Man
The immigration issue has been at the forefront of American politics for decades, but perhaps never more so than in the last 10 years, thanks to the virulent racism of Donald Trump and those of his ilk. Even with a much saner Executive in the White House, little seems possible to rectify this highly-nuanced issue … Continue reading Shameless, But Not Soulless – Blue Bayou
I Actually Paid To See This 