Category: Film
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My Oscar Picks – 2025
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My Oscar Picks – 2024
Predicting (hate that word) what the Academy will choose is risky business. But those of us who follow cinema closely can’t help ourselves. The Academy is all about proclamation. Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Sound, etc. But can there really be a Best of anything in art? The full Academy…
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Killers of the Flower Moon – Film Review
It’s hard to imagine a story more “American” than Killers of the Flower Moon. A true story about an Indian tribe being forced to give up their land along with their customs and freedom. Adapted from David Grann’s gripping non-fiction book, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and…
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My 2023 Oscar Picks
It is tempting vote for everything Everything Everywhere All at Once was nominated for, but I don’t believe it is that kind of film. I recognize why it is so popular and perhaps even influential on future films, but there are other great efforts to recognize. But, who knows what will happen…
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“Phantom Thread” Fashion, Power and Poison – Film Review
I always feel the need to prepare myself, at the very least, for an unfamiliar world before I see a Paul Thomas Anderson movie. That’s a given. As part of that preparation I did some serious research ahead of my recent viewing of Mr. Anderson’s latest film, Phantom Thread. Everyone knows by…
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“Lady Bird” Cinematic Album of Greatness – Film Review
One of my favorite films of 2016 was 20th Century Women. I’m a sucker for these social/cultural concept pictures that have a big cast, all with issues. They transport me back to my youth. Lady Bird is cut from the same celluloid and although it doesn’t take me all the…
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“The Big Sick” Romantic Comedy Remade – Film Review
I really enjoyed The Big Sick. l think in large part for its ability to make me laugh even through a life or death circumstance. Michael Showalter directs this surprising gem written by married couple Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani (HBO’s Silicon Valley). Its based, I’m assuming, on their real life…
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She holds all the Cards. “Molly’s Game” – Film Review
Every time I go into a theater or turn on a TV that has a script written by Aaron Sorkin, I’m convinced this is the time he will run out of words. That trading his soul for the talent to write unending, spectacular dialogue will have finally run out. Well,…
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mother! Breaks the Hollywood Mold and It’s Terrifying! – Film Review
mother! defies description! For those who took the leap or were led there unwittingly by a friend or spouse, you found yourself peering into the abyss. Writer, director Darren Aronofsky’s latest film was written in five days. It may take me five months to be satisfied enough about the whats…
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My 2017 Oscar Picks
Ladies and gentlemen, the post you’ve all been waiting for. My picks to win the 89th Academy Awards. This year’s nominees gives us hope that the Academy has at least made some effort to look across the wonderful diversity that makes up the filmmaking community. The Academy released a list of…
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Jackie – Portrait in Distress
The decision to make Jackie was a risky one. Millions of people have strongly engrained beliefs of that famous first lady, while millions more have little to no connection at all to her or what happened on November 22, 1963. But the topic of Camelot and Kennedy royalty cannot be…
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Arrival – What is Your Purpose on Earth?
It’s always a tough decision. Do I buy a ticket to yet another dystopian, futuristic, science fiction bleak house of a film? Last year I bought one for Ex Machina, which caught me by complete surprise. Armed with that memory I decided to take a chance on Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. The carefully crafted…
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My 2016 Oscar Picks
The Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will will hold their 88th award ceremony Sunday, February 28th. I will not be discussing the over indexing of whiteness among the nominees, except to say it is something that certainly needs to be addressed. My interest here lies in the films, filmmakers and artists that were nominated by the Academy.…
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The Stakes are High in The Big Short
Adam McKay’s take on the bestseller by Michael Lewis is an investigative romp leading up to the financial meltdown that began in 2007. It’s full of colorful characters and even more colorful language. Mr. McKay uses voiceover and direct talking into an always moving, manic camera. He intercuts images, sounds and…
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“The Martian” and his Earthlings
Mars has long been the muse to writers, scientists and moviemakers. A wikipedia search for “films about Mars” will yield a page that lists 66 titles although many of them were television shows. The most common plot line that emerges when Mars and Earth are in the same script turns out to be mostly…
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The Walk
Robert Zemeckis has given us The Back to the Future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Contact, Cast Away and Flight. These are formidable works that strike a cultural nerve and straddle past, present and future. Indeed, Mr. Zemeckis has a way of transporting us across the space-time continuum with flair and style. He weaves humanism…
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Interstellar Extends Life as we Know it, Maybe
It takes a while to get into the flow of Interstellar, Christopher Nolan’s latest film odyssey. But that’s not a problem because with a running time of 2 hours and 49 minutes you don’t need to be in a hurry. Mr. Nolan combines a number of narratives and even more…
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My Annual Oscar Picks – 2014
It’s that time again. The Academy hands out their picks for best of every category. They can select 10 films for best picture, but apparently could find only nine worthy of the crown. The pictures span history, deep drama, AIDS, hijacking, swindle and a celestial exploration of the human spirit,…
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