Movie & TV Reviews, Lists, and Appreciation
When one makes a Best of Decade list, it doesn't do to just have it be a collection of personal favorites -- though that certainly comes into play, especially once you get towards the top. To have a list that feels complete, one must look at longevity. Which films have endured since their initial release? … Continue reading The Top 25 Movies of the 2010’s
As we close out 2019, we look back at the best in film of this past year, which I believe will be looked at as one of the strongest years for movies in this decade along with 2010, 2015, and 2017 (Best of Decade list coming shortly). Hollywood closed out two of its biggest franchises, … Continue reading The Top 10 Movies of 2019
Star Wars, for better or worse, has always been a franchise that has swayed to the demands of fans. You want more Star Wars? Here's the story of the Clone Wars and how Anakin became Darth Vader. That's a story you want, right? Well fans rejected George Lucas' prequel trilogy. It didn't feel like the … Continue reading Review: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Mysteries can be very hard to do. Can you stay ahead of a savvy audience and keep them guessing? Does your ending both surprise and satisfy? Does the movie still hold up on rewatch once all of the secrets have been revealed? Writer-Director Rian Johnson, an avid fan of Agatha Christie stories, answers all of … Continue reading Review: Knives Out
Martin Scorsese's long gestating mob epic, I Heard You Paint Houses aka The Irishman, is a monumental achievement from a master storyteller with a career filled with them. For those worried that Scorsese is just retreading old ground, The Irishman spotlights a new approach for this kind of territory. Instead of fast and exciting, things … Continue reading Review: The Irishman
Todd Phillips' origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime veers away from the trappings of a traditional comic book movie by taking inspiration from the Martin Scorcese films of the 1970's like Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. The result of this bold, though slightly derivative, direction is an impressive piece of filmmaking … Continue reading Review: Joker
Ever since Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, scores of our finest filmmakers have done their best to reach for its cosmic heights. Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, Duncan Jones’ Moon, and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar are all chasing Kubrick in some form. The film that comes the closest to catching that landmark may very well be Ad Astra from James … Continue reading Review: Ad Astra
Andy Muschietti’s 2nd half follow-up to his massive 2017 hit does have a few good things going for it: it’s reasonably well-paced despite its incredible length, it boasts a very entertaining Bill Hader performance, and it gets a lot of mileage out of the strength of Stephen King’s source material. However the near 3-hour running time is littered with missteps from … Continue reading Review: It: Chapter Two
When and if Quentin Tarantino hangs up his spurs, this 9th film (or 10th depending how you count Kill Bill) from the singular filmmaker may be his greatest outlier. It’s not driven by any particular plot device but rather vividly recreates Los Angeles of 1969 and is perfectly content to just live in its world … Continue reading Review: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
We're back and catching up with some of this summer's big, would-be, blockbusters and we're deep into franchise territory (when aren't we?). Two of Hollywood's biggest franchises come to an end (maybe) while one is paving the way for its largest installment yet. Let's talk toys, monsters, and mutants. Toy Story 4 Did we … Continue reading Summer 2019 Catch-Up: Part 2
