Earlier this week, I worked as an election clerk here in Los Angeles. From a very early age, my mother and my grandmother instilled in me the value of voting and the importance of being politically engaged. For my Gram, she was born just a decade after women were finally granted the right, and for … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Darkest Timeline
It's been a hot minute since I've posted anything, but for once there's good reason. I spent five days last week covering AFI Fest, taking in a whopping 16 films over the course of the festival. Tomorrow I'll be getting up at the ass crack of dawn for four days of election work going through … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – November 2024
The Joker. Harley Quinn. Gotham City in flames. The possibilities are endless. After Todd Phillips' divisive but brilliant Joker from 2019 offered a dark, grungy look at one of many plausible origins for the Clown Prince of Crime (the man himself has famously said in various media that if he was going to have a … Continue reading Crazies in Love – Joker: Folie à Deux
I think we can all agree that Saturday Night Live is one of the most important programs in television history. Regardless of whether or not you enjoy the show or the rotating cast - I basically only watch "Weekend Update" these days, but I grew up during the 90s and early 00s Golden Era - … Continue reading Ready for Prime Time – Saturday Night
Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is a film that, by its very existence, leaves your average cinephile in something of a catch-22. On the one hand, Coppola has given the world some of the greatest achievements of the artform, to the point that he can easily be given the odd mulligan if he puts out a … Continue reading All That Glitters – Megalopolis
A couple of weeks ago, I took a nasty fall. At least, it was nasty for someone my age. While going out to get some lunch, I ran into a couple of problems. The first was that the restaurant completely flubbed my order by giving me a ton of fries I didn't ask for. I … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – October 2024
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly part of our lives, the biggest issue is that it's presented to us as an automatic, universal good. Whether it's tech companies like Google and Apple forcing it down our throats through their products and advertising (which we can't opt out of even though we've given them little to no … Continue reading Learning to Fly – The Wild Robot
We're on the cusp of Awards Season, with the end of September and the beginning of October bringing the first major studio hopefuls looking to gobble up hardware. However, there's still some unfinished business to attend to from last year's festivities. As previously detailed, I have paid for a membership to Film Independent, which grants … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Final Stragglers
Whether you're a fan of the works of Kevin Smith or not, there are some things that simply can't be denied. He loves movies (really all pop culture media) in the same way that most of us do, continuously approaching his projects through the lens of a fan rather than an auteur or studio executive. … Continue reading A 24-Karat Case of Love – The 4:30 Movie
Any regular reader of this blog knows my feelings on remakes. In short, I'm not a fan. In long, I'll give them a go if there's a compelling reason, typically a great actor leading the affair or a very creative director giving the audience their unique take on the material. There is an additional circumstance … Continue reading The Kindness of Strangers – Speak No Evil
I Actually Paid To See This 