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 …
Category: Reviews
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 …
Two Movies I Saw This Weekend
I saw a couple of movies this weekend that I liked but didn’t love. Woman of the Hour is the directorial debut of Anna Kendrick, who also starred in the film. It’s airing on Netflix, and I have a lot of mixed feelings about Netflix movies in general. I don’t generally go out of my …
Conclave – Kicking Off Oscar Season
Yes, we are early in Oscar season, but IMHO, we already have a front-runner. Conclave might be everything you look for in Oscar bait, but it is an exceptional piece of cinema. There is not a weak link in this film. The story is riveting. The characters are engaging. The cinematography is stunning. The overall …
We Live in Time: An Almost Great Film
Last weekend I saw We Live in Time, directed by John Crowley and starring Andrew Garfield as Tobias and Florence Pugh as Almut. This film, to me, is an example of an “almost great” movie. Crowley did a nice job directing the individual scenes. Garfield and Pugh had wonderful chemistry as a couple navigating their …
100 Words Each (Roughly) On Some Recent Films
It’s been a while since I posted anything, and I need to get caught up before we move on to one of the most exciting times of the year, movie-wise. So here are roughly 100 words each on some recent releases. Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project landed with a thud with audiences and critics. …
Sing Sing: An Important Film That Everyone Should See
I saw Sing Sing over the weekend, and it blew me away. This film was a masterclass in acting and directing. It was thematically powerful, had a definite point of view, and drove home emotionally charged components. It had important messages about incarceration and the ideas of rehabilitation vs. punishment. Let’s talk about the story …
My Number 6 Favorite Screenplay of the Year: Challengers
Now that we’re halfway through the year, I thought this would be a good time to acknowledge the best of what we’ve seen so far. Traditionally, the first half of the year can be kind of a wasteland when it comes to good movies. We generally see Oscar-bait movies get their wide release after the …
Six! My Six favorite screenplays of the year so far!
We are essentially halfway through the year. In no particular order, my top 5 favorite screenplays of the year are: Inside Out 2 Dune Part 2 Wicked Little Letters The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare The Fall Guy Challengers Over the next few days, I will discuss each of these screenplays in detail. I will examine …
Inside Out 2: PIXAR Picks Up the Slack
I will admit that when I first heard that Inside Out 2 was on the slate, I was underwhelmed. While I liked the first movie, I never considered it to be one of PIXAR’s best efforts. Maybe it was a top-15 or even top-12 PIXAR film, but it wasn’t in my personal top-10, and I …