Summertime, and the living's easy! Well, unless you're perpetually unemployed and financially hanging by a thread, of course. In that scenario the living's excruciatingly stressful and what little sleep you get is filled with existential nightmares. Thank God we still have movies, though. Seriously, the tiny specks of sanity I have left would be completely … Continue reading This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – June 2025
By most measures, this year's Oscar Blitz has been smoother than usual. I've kept ahead of schedule on the videos, I don't find myself scrambling for things to write each night, and since I don't have a gig at the moment, I'm not stressing myself out pulling double (or triple) duty. However, there was one … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part Four – More Animation (and an Apology)
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
Right off the bat, I should apologize for the relative lateness of this month's column. Today, April 5, is the first day of the month for new theatrical releases, and typically I have this piece out well in advance of that. However, two variables came into play that I did not expect. One is that … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – April 2024
It's been said time and time again that great writers simply write what they know. If we extend the old adage to screenwriter Jason Fuchs, who penned Matthew Vaughn's latest, Argylle, then we're left to assume that all he knows is spy movie clichés. At minimum the basic ideas of "plot" and "character" may be … Continue reading Kitty Litter – Argylle
The writing has been on the wall for quite a while now. Ever since Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe began, the onslaught of diminishing returns has brought us to this inflection point. There have been a couple of bright spots, mostly from fan service films that served as closure for beloved characters that … Continue reading RIP MCU – The Marvels
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
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
I am now 24 films deep into this year's field for the Animated Feature Oscar. Only three entries remain after this, and of those three, only one will definitely become available this month. The debate for me then becomes whether to watch it and give it a standalone review, wait until the other two get … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Nomination, Part 3
I'd say it's kind of hard to believe that we're already halfway through the year, but I understand how calendars work, so it's not like it's a surprise or anything. That said, the last several weeks have been exceedingly busy, so it does feel like time has flowed a bit faster than normal, especially when … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – July 2022
I Actually Paid To See This 