For those who don't get the headline reference, a bit of film trivia. In 1948, a movie musical was released called Isn't it Romantic? It's fairly unremarkable, but it has one major bit of notoriety. In the 1980s, renowned film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film what is considered by the Guinness Book of World Records … Continue reading Still No, But That’s the Point – Isn’t it Romantic
Robert Rodriguez hardly ever misfires. He's a master of genre, with hits like Sin City, Planet Terror, and Machete. He's a frequent collaborator with Quentin Tarantino, and has a visual eye many filmmakers would kill for. That said, his latest film, Alita: Battle Angel, just flat out sucks. The film languished in Development Hell for over a decade because … Continue reading Throw it Back in the Scrap Heap – Alita: Battle Angel
The first Lego Movie was one of the most unique moments in modern cinema history. It was an absolutely shameless bit of corporate synergy that at the same time was a visual marvel filled with laughs, amazing animation, and an emotional gut punch of an ending that was surprisingly profound, taking us out of the animated … Continue reading Everything is Not Quite Awesome, But Still Pretty Fun – The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Last year, Natalie Portman made a political statement by calling out the fact that all five nominees for Best Director at the Golden Globes were men. It was a bit annoying, because it didn't matter whether or not a woman actually did a directing job worthy of consideration (Patty Jenkins, perhaps?), what mattered in her … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Best Director
The Short categories are always my favorite part of Oscar season, because you get to see the whole set all at once, and immediately judge them against each other. And as it turns out, each of the three lists have four films that are all thematically similar in some way, with one oddball that doesn't … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Documentary Short
The Original Song category carries the suggested caveat that the nominated numbers be considered within the contexts of their respective films. The Original Score category, however, outright requires it. Because, you know, that's the point. One of the cool bits about this category is the way it's evolved over the years. It actually currently sits … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Original Score
Even though the Academy tends to award both Sound categories together, I like tackling them with a good amount of space in between. It helps to prevent me conflating the two disciplines. That way I can properly process my thoughts on the subtle differences between the two, because I took a brake to parse everything … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Sound Mixing
I only had two movies to see to complete this year's Oscar Blitz (outside of the Shorts, that is), the fewest I've ever had to see, which is good, because I'm dead flat broke at the moment. Anyway, given that there were just the two, I figured it'd be best to work the appropriate categories … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Animated Feature
While the Oscar Blitz has been going on, the other major ceremonies of this year's Awards Season have been having their say on the final outcome. Over the last couple of weeks, we've gotten results from the BAFTAs, SAG, and the DGA. The Writers Guild and the Independent Spirit Awards are still to come, but … Continue reading I’m Giving Out Wings! – Awards Circuit Catch-Up
This has been the quickest Oscar Blitz in the short history of me trying to pull this off. I'll almost certainly never complete the entire ceremony before nominations come out, but this year was about as close as you can get. Apart from the three short film categories, which were released as bloc screenings on … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts: The Good and the Bad in the Blitzing
I Actually Paid To See This 