Every once in a great while, a film comes along that is so bad, so poorly made, so bafflingly offensive, banal, and misguided that the sheer mass of terrible collapses in on itself like a neutron star and creates a spectacle so ironically joyous that the viewer ultimately has no choice but to submit to … Continue reading Off the Deep End – Poolman
The Walt Disney Company was founded 100 years ago, and while I have had myriad issues with their corporate structure and priorities, particularly over the last decade or so, the one thing I and many others can always look forward to is the latest entry into the Disney Animation Studios canon. Beginning with Snow White … Continue reading Bye, Centennial! – Wish
If you're wondering why I haven't posted anything in the last week, there's a very good reason. I just spent five days at this year's AFI Fest in Hollywood. Over the course of the festival, I took in an insane 15 movies, including 10 that have been submitted for the Oscar for International Feature. Needless … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – November 2023
When I first saw the trailer for the latest adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons game, my immediate reaction was one of terror. Not because anything in the teaser looked particularly scary, mind you, but because I still remember the god-awful 2000 film starring Jeremy Irons, and everything I saw indicated that this would be … Continue reading Charisma Check – Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
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
Earlier this year, Alex Garland's Men gave audiences a thoughtful, layered, and visionary approach to the concept of toxic masculinity, creating a story that blurred the lines of horror, fantasy, and reality, led by absolutely deft performances from Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear. It wasn't perfect, but it was a raw, visceral depiction of how … Continue reading Significantly Less Pleasantville – Don’t Worry Darling
As I mentioned a couple of days ago with the review of Tenet, the reaction to the so-called "tentpole" films of 2020 was not so great once people got to actually watch the movies without a highly-coordinated marketing campaign in the months leading up. The multiple delays, lack of ad campaigns, and subsequent releases on … Continue reading I Wish for a Better Sequel – Wonder Woman 1984
Sony has owned the cinematic rights to Spider-Man since the turn of the century, and through its usage, we've gotten some pretty decent movies. I still love the Tobey Maguire trilogy and am more forgiving than most when it comes to Spider-Man 3 (it sucked, but it still had heart). But over the last decade, they've … Continue reading Trippy, Hilarious, and Surprisingly Heartfelt – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Disney's latest adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time (they did a TV movie in 2003) had all the ingredients to be great. First off, it was my favorite book as a child (though my first exposure to the story was in an opera in 1992 put on by OperaDelaware, which adapts children's stories for the stage … Continue reading Ava DuVernay Proves That Even the Best of Us Have Off Days – A Wrinkle In Time
I Actually Paid To See This 