I see as many movies as I can over the course of a calendar year, but it's an all but impossible task to see everything that might be considered for the Academy Awards. This was especially true for 2019, as I had to track down two International Feature nominees that hadn't been released stateside by … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Digging for Oscar Gold
What? You didn't think I'd stop going to new movies just because we're in the middle of the Oscar Blitz, did you? While January is unquestionably a wasteland for the worst new movies to quickly premiere and die, I'm still going to take my opportunities to see new stuff as often as I can. The … Continue reading There’s Fuckery Afoot – The Gentlemen
Let me paint you a picture. It's New Year's Eve, literally the last day of 2019, and I've got nothing to do before my roommates host a party that night. Every movie I planned on seeing was in the books, so what was I going to do? There was only one new movie left, and … Continue reading Even My Allergies Said Stay Away – Cats
Oscar nominations are just over a day away, and when they come down on Monday morning, five filmmakers are going to get the thrill of a lifetime, as their movie will be up for the Documentary Feature prize. Late last month, the Academy narrowed over 190 submissions down to a lucky 15, which were then … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The 2019 Doc Feature Shortlist
I'll be right upfront with you guys. I don't like Terrence Malick movies. With the exception of The Thin Red Line, every film of his I've seen can basically be reduced to two bullet points: Beautifully shot, but unbelievably pretentious. A decade ago, baffling praise was heaped upon him for The Tree of Life, which I … Continue reading Snail Mail at a Snail’s Pace – A Hidden Life
The late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia, a staunch proponent of capital punishment, once famously said that there had not been, "a single case—not one—in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit." That firebrand assertion implies that if it were ever proven that an innocent man … Continue reading Forgive, Don’t Forget – Clemency
It's amazing how something plain and simple can expand into something beyond belief or control. It happens every day. A rumor spreads fast and loose, ballooning into an outright scandal. A traffic accident at the wrong time and place can escalate into a humongous multi-car pileup. A moment of levity from a mother and a … Continue reading The March of War! – 1917
The Oscar nominations are right around the corner, and I've still got a pretty sizable backlog of movies to review. Thankfully, I can give you two for the price of one (or a billion, it's all free) with one more edition of "DownStream." While not nearly as aggressive as Netflix, Amazon Prime has put out … Continue reading DownStream – Prime Viewing
In my review of Richard Jewell, I mentioned that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution demanded the film contain a disclaimer that the events and characters within were mostly imagined for dramatic purposes, due to the film's harsh, sexist, ill-conceived, and almost certainly fabricated depiction of Kathy Scruggs, who's been dead nearly 20 years and has no way of … Continue reading The Existence of a Villain Does Not Make Heroes – Bombshell
I've noted in this space multiple times that I do not care for remakes and reboots, because more often than not, they're just cynical cash grabs by the studios, taking advantage of an audience that doesn't care to notice. Every once in a great while I do enjoy them, though, and will watch them with … Continue reading Even the Saddest Moments Can Spark Joy – Little Women
I Actually Paid To See This 