If you tuned in to the blog today hoping to see my review of Wicked for Good, all I can say is... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!*deep inhale*HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! All jokes aside, I will see it eventually, but given the eight month advertising blitz for the first half of the movie last year and the five month campaign for the … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Animation Autumn-ation, Part 1
You may be wondering why this month's column is coming out so late, nine whole days into January. Well, there are three reasons. The first is that, right after Christmas, I got a stye in my left eye. Despite multiple attempts to pop and/or drain it, the thing got so big that my eye was … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – January 2025
With two weeks left to go until the Oscar Blitz begins, a good chunk of time will be spent doing my utmost to cram in as much cinematic content as possible. Just like last year, Netflix has pulled out all the proverbial stops in order to bribe Academy voters into giving the streamer as much … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part One: Documentary
I've said many a time before that one of my basic philosophies when it comes to film criticism is that I'm much more forgiving of an ambitious failure than I am a safe mediocrity. Essentially, if you take a risk and fall short, that's still better for me than playing things by the numbers and … Continue reading Trouble with the Curve – Despicable Me 4
Happy birthday, America! Or rather, Happy Barbecue and Fireworks Day, as the Supreme Court decided three days ago to essentially kill the republic by declaring the former President a monarch unaccountable to the law. Hey, we had almost 248 years. It was a good run. In that spirit, I have decided that for this month's … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – July 2024
Over the past few years there have been several family-friendly films about the bond between humans and their dogs. Each has its charms and shortcomings, but the basic theme that these movies try to get across for the sake of the youngest viewer is in how naturally loving a canine can be, and how we … Continue reading Reggie The Shunted – Strays
Summer has come and passed... you know the rest. Go wake up Billie Joe Armstrong, already. The autumn air is upon us, more theatres are opening up (except for Regal, which is closing some 350 locations, many of them permanently), and the deluge of online-only content is starting to abate. More films are getting their … Continue reading DownStream – Cruel Summer
The Oscars are tomorrow night, and as promised, I'll get to my official predictions later this evening. But before I do, there are a few more undercard awards to hand out, which may or may not inform the results. But those are for another post coming later. Here we're only concerned about the worst of … Continue reading It Can Always Be Worse – 39th Razzie Awards Announced!
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
It's the eve of the Oscar nominations, which can only mean one thing. The Oscars honor the best in cinema, but before that we have to recognize the worst Hollywood has to offer. Today sees the nominations for the 39th annual Razzie Awards! Now, for the last three years I've made it my personal mission … Continue reading It Certainly Does Suck! – 39th Razzie Nominees Announced!
I Actually Paid To See This 