I wrote a blog on this film earlier this year, but this post will focus on the screenplay. As everyone knows, A Complete Unknown is a biopic about Bob Dylan’s early career, how he dealt with rising fame, his tumultuous relationships with Joan Baez and Sylvie Russo, and his struggle to define himself as more …
Category: Reviews
Anora: Dark Humor Reflective of a Bleak World
I know this film has been out for a while, but I finally got a chance to see it in a theater last weekend. It’s a strong film and is worthy of its Best Picture nomination, but it’s unlikely to be named the Best Picture of the year. As much as I enjoyed it, I …
The Substance: A Substantive and Powerful Film
I finally got to see The Substance over the weekend, and although my feelings are mixed, I came away impressed. This isn’t a perfect film. Of the films that are nominated for Best Picture this year, I would rank it somewhere in the middle of the pack. However, it is a powerful film that, in …
The Brutalist: A Brutal Cinematic Experience
The main thing I want to say about The Brutalist is that I will be pissed off if it wins Best Picture. I have a feeling it will, so I’m going to hold off on doing a full-fledged review of it now. If it wins, it will be included in my Best Picture Blog series. …
A Real Pain: A Journey with Broken People
A Real Pain is one of those movies that feels like a gut punch you want to take over and over again. It’s a beautiful work of art that simmers with drama and emotion. Screenwriter, director, and star Jesse Eisenberg did a masterful job of weaving emotional relationship-building with a story that is as much …
Emilia Pérez – Unintentional Satire
I finally got around to watching Emilia Pérez on Netflix the other night to see what all the fuss was about. I had seen clips of the one song that everyone is deservedly mocking online, and thinking that it was representative of the film, I fully expected to hate it. And I almost did hate it. I …
A Complete Unknown: An Entertaining, but Flat Film.
I will preface this by saying that I have always been a casual fan of Bob Dylan. I’ve never owned any of his albums, but I likewise never change the radio station when one of his songs comes on, and I never skip a song of his if it comes up on my Spotify playlist. …
2025 Golden Globes Recap
It’s safe to say that the Golden Globes are not what they used to be. For many years, the Golden Globes were the antithesis of the Oscars. Where the Oscars were stodgy and proper, the Golden Globes always had an edge to them. People still got dressed up, but at the Oscars, everyone stays in …
Wicked: What Modern Cinema Should Be
I will preface this post by saying that while I have always been familiar with Wicked as a popular piece of modern musical theater, I have never seen the show, nor have I read the book by Gregory Maguire. I was familiar with many of the songs, like Defying Gravity, Popular, and The Wizard and …
Gladiator II Makes Us Look in the Mirror
Years ago, when I first heard that there would be a sequel to Gladiator, a film that won Best Picture and is one of the greatest films of this century’s first decade, my initial thought was, “Why?” Why do they feel the need to make a sequel to a film that had a closed and …