I like to think that, overall, 2022 was a better year than 2021. There were some down moments, to be sure - Billie Eilish won an Oscar before Lin-Manuel Miranda, I had to move my mother into hospice, Republicans retook the House, basically every celebrity we still cared about died, AMC charged us more money … Continue reading The Best (and Worst) of 2022
A few months ago, I raged at Marvel's Eternals as the worst film of 2021, and I continue to stand by it. It was overcrowded, utterly without plot, and filled to the brim with eyesore special effects. But the worst offense of all was that the so-called "surprise twist" was that the obvious bad guy … Continue reading Disney’s Dark Hold – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Since I made the decision to break down the major categories on my YouTube channel (I Actually Paid to See This, subscribe please!), I've been struggling to figure out how to give you all, my beloved readers, something unique to go along with the video content. I mean, you can just watch the clip to … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2022 – Best Actor
The moment has come at last. After a truncated year of eligibility, way too much hype for remakes, and for some reason a "documentary" about Billie Eilish, it is time to finally announce this year's nominees for the Academy Awards. I was up early (but not bright) at 5am Pacific Time to watch and react … Continue reading WAKE UP! IT’S TIME TO BLITZ! – 94th Academy Award Nominations
We're in the home stretch, folks. In five days, we will know where the Academy stands, and the Oscar nominations will be announced. Before that happens, however, we have one last entry into the Awards Season undercard, the most prestigious ceremony for our friends across the Pond, the BAFTAs. Now obviously, being more Anglo-centric than … Continue reading I Say, Good Show – 75th BAFTA Nominations
It's amazing to me that it's been 12 years since the acclaimed Jane Campion has directed a film. Until now, her most recent work was the well-received but barely seen Bright Star, about poet John Keats. It's been nearly 20 years since her last mainstream film, the underwhelming In the Cut. While her output has … Continue reading The Sheep’s Clothing – The Power of the Dog
While the Oscars are the main event of Awards Season, there's still a good deal of information to gather along the way for those trying to win their office pools. Just about every major production branch has its own union that votes on internal awards, but the big four in this regard are the unions … Continue reading Acting! Genius! – 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Nominees
After the absolutely infuriating tragedy that was Eternals, the Marvel Cinematic Universe desperately needs a palate cleanser, if not a full-on reversal to redeem itself. Hope was on the horizon with a new Spider-Man movie fast approaching, one that would also feature Doctor Strange. Tom Holland is widely considered to be the greatest version of … Continue reading Into the Villain-Verse – Spider-Man: No Way Home
Part of the problem with a lot of spy thrillers is that the films lean much more into the action fantasy than the actual tradecraft of espionage, for fear that the actual nuts and bolts of an operation would come off as boring. A couple of films over the past decade plus have given it … Continue reading The Tale of the Moscow Mule – The Courier
It's amazing how something plain and simple can expand into something beyond belief or control. It happens every day. A rumor spreads fast and loose, ballooning into an outright scandal. A traffic accident at the wrong time and place can escalate into a humongous multi-car pileup. A moment of levity from a mother and a … Continue reading The March of War! – 1917
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