Back Row Thoughts – Jet-Setting, Part One

The countdown to the 97th Academy Awards is officially underway, and in 48 hours, I'll begin the Oscar Blitz in earnest with the first category breakdown. However, there's still one major block of movies that I haven't really discussed yet, the shortlist for International Feature. Of the 15 films, I've already seen 14, and the … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Jet-Setting, Part One

DownStream – TUDUM! Part Three – Narrative Features

In Netflix's never-ending quest to destroy the theatrical film model once and for all, they put forward a lot of movies in hopes of garnering some Academy hardware. In addition to the two International Feature submissions they put their marketing heft behind (Chile's In Her Place and the massively overblown exercise in missing the point … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part Three – Narrative Features

No Huddle BLITZ! – 97th Academy Awards Nominations

The time has come, ladies and germs! At the ass crack of dawn this morning, and with significant portions of Los Angeles County still on fire, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences brought out Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennot to announce this year's Oscar nominees. I myself did NOT watch the proceedings live, … Continue reading No Huddle BLITZ! – 97th Academy Awards Nominations

The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors – Nosferatu

One of the things I instantly appreciated about Robert Eggers' remake of the 1922 horror classic, Nosferatu is that he really didn't try to replicate the original. Sure, there are a couple of shots that are pure homage, like the sight of the bony, claw-like hand of Count Orlok (Bill SkarsgĂĄrd) casting an eerie shadow … Continue reading The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors – Nosferatu