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
To put it lightly, August was... a cultural wasteland, a bubonic plague of cinematic garbage where one disaster after another flooded your local multiplex, to the point that Nicole Kidman saying "We make movies better" actually made you wonder how terrible the flick you watched was before AMC magically improved it by doing nothing. We … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – September 2024
It can be difficult business to give a real-life figure the cinematic treatment. Ideally you want a subject that's compelling on a human level as well as a dramatic one. It's a delicate balance to maintain. Some people who may be superficially interesting may not be worth rooting for, either as a hero or a … Continue reading Stalled Out – Ferrari
It's almost March, the time of year when things really start to turn around. The Oscars are handed out, the NCAA Tournament begins, snow starts melting, work tends to pick up in my little sector of the entertainment industry, and Hollywood studios start putting out some really good movies. Okay, everything but that last part. … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – March 2023
Noah Baumbach is a tremendous writer and director, giving us such amazing, thoughtful works as The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha, and Marriage Story. He has a very keen mind for interpersonal relationships and character study, probably why he and Greta Gerwig make such a great couple. As a filmmaker, he's made his bones … Continue reading The Title Says it All – White Noise
No Oscars category breakdown today, but I still have several films to add to the official 2021 canon with reviews before the process is truly complete. In a previous installment of "Back Row Thoughts," we looked at three movies where their leads were nominated for Best Actress. So why not continue recapping highlighted films that … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The Make-Up Makeup Blitz
The calendar has finally turned over, and of course, because we just can't have nice things, the universe decided to take Betty White out at the last fucking minute. But anyway, the official book has closed on 2021, a year where we almost, kinda, sort of got back to something resembling normal, only for the … Continue reading The Best (and Worst) of 2021
Nearly 25 years ago, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, already decently well-known actors, made their breakthrough to superstardom with Good Will Hunting, which the childhood friends co-wrote and starred in. The pair won the Oscar for Original Screenplay, along with Robin Williams winning Best Supporting Actor. The collaboration placed them squarely on Hollywood's A-list, a … Continue reading A Matter of Perspective – The Last Duel
We're in the thick of it now. Awards Season is officially underway, with the first submission deadlines come and gone for next year's Oscars. The studios are making their major moves, planning their releases as well as their For Your Consideration campaigns. In most years, this would also be the point where checks would start … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – November 2021
I mentioned in my review of The Sparks Brothers (which remains the best theatrically-released documentary I've seen this year) that one of the few setbacks for Ron and Russ Mael in their careers was the collapse of a collaboration with director Tim Burton on a feature film. However, as noted, even that heartbreak has since … Continue reading A Puppet Cheer – Annette
I Actually Paid To See This 