One of the challenges of Awards Season is simply keeping up. Between the International, Documentary, and Animation submissions being released, and the eventual shortlists from the Academy (coming next week), just trying to stay organized and on task is its own daunting odyssey at times. It's especially difficult this year, as the vast majority of … Continue reading A Quick Rush – Blitz
I've been sitting on this one for a while, as I saw Nightbitch over a month ago at AFI Fest. The latest effort from writer/director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me? and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) debuted at Toronto back in early September, and the film made its rounds throughout the festival … Continue reading Doggy Style – Nightbitch
I think we can safely call it at this point, 2024 has not been a great year for film. Sure, there have been a few genuinely superlative entries here and there, but for the most part, even the best movies have been largely unmemorable. Pretty much all the major contenders for Awards Season were crammed … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – December 2024
Last week, Oscar completists like myself got the first major announcement about the films vying for next year's prizes, a triad press release from the Academy listing the submissions deemed eligible for Documentary Feature, International Feature, and Animated Feature. As I do every year, I make it my goal to track down and view all … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Destination
I've always been a fan of Clint Eastwood, both as an actor and as a filmmaker. He's given some of the most electric performances in cinema history, and has directed some all-timers in the likes of Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Changeling. However, as he's gotten on … Continue reading Presumed Guilty – Juror #2
Yeah, I know I'm way behind on this one. That's the nature of the beast during Festival Season. I've got quite the backlog to get through, but I promise I'll catch up in time. Anyway, the eighth feature from writer/director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, which I despised, and Red Rocket, which I loved), and … Continue reading After Midnight – Anora
One of the hardest things to do when you're feeling down is to get out of your own head. If you dwell too long in your pain, you risk being consumed by it. At the same time, if you try to qualify it by comparing it to others, you also risk minimizing your own lived … Continue reading This Beautiful Tragedy – Memoir of a Snail
The early rounds of Awards Season are well underway, with the ultimate prize being the Oscars. If you've read this blog with any regularity, you know that the competition for International Feature is almost always intense and difficult to track, as there's no formal requirement that the submitted films ever screen in the United States. … Continue reading DownStream – First Foreign Forays
Life is hard. I know that goes without saying, but sometimes even that basic acknowledgement goes a long way. It's how we develop our sense of empathy. Carefree ease only happens for a select few of us as we navigate existence, and even for those privileged individuals, there are certainly bumps in the road. We're … Continue reading Catharsis – A Real Pain
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
I Actually Paid To See This 