Been a few months since the last time EoM Founder Douglas Davidson joined the Meet Me at the Movies crew for an episode, but Thanksgiving provided the perfect opportunity to get back together and chat about movies and cinematic television…. Read More ›
Month: November 2019
Technical mastery and a poetic approach to direction make director Sam Mendes’s “1917” an unforgettable experience.
Dunkirk. Hacksaw Ridge. Saving Private Ryan. The Thin Red Line. All Quiet on the Western Front. Each of these films found a provocative way to tell a war story. Whether it’s the tickticktick of Hans Zimmer’s Dunkirk score accompanying overlapping… Read More ›
A Conversation with Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter.
Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth Carter (Black Panther) shares about filmmaking and discusses Dolemite Is My Name on this episode of Meet Me at the Movies with Noel T. Manning II. With over 40 films to her credit, Carter has also… Read More ›
Director Melina Matsoukas’s directorial feature debut “Queen & Slim” is a time bomb disguised as a powerhouse drama.
Director Melina Matouskas’s directorial debut, Queen & Slim, is a devastating drama about a couple thrust into the spotlight after a traffic stop gone wrong. At least, that’s one way to read it. Another way is that the screenplay from… Read More ›
Sci-fi drama “Anya” is a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of a complex contemporary issue.
A science-fiction love story can go either way. It could be a Passengers (2016) or it could be a About Time (2013), which may not be a true science-fiction movie, but it’s infused with time travel so we’ll call it… Read More ›
Crime thriller “The Irishman” is Martin Scorsese at his most self-assured.
In his recent years, and more specifically in recent months, Martin Scorsese has really stepped away from the spotlight…oh my god, could you imagine if I was serious with that? The argument has been made that Scorsese made the controversial… Read More ›
“Knives Out” is more than a whodunit. It’s the most fun you’ll have at the cinema.
There’s been a lot of trash tossed around on writer/director Rian Johnson since his Star Wars film hit theaters in 2017. It’s wonderful that audiences feel such ownership for a film series, but there comes a point where the community… Read More ›
Peter Strickland’s Giallo-inspired “In Fabric” crafts an inspired modern tale out of vintage filmmaking. [Film Fest 919]
It’s no secret that Suspiria is one of my favorite films of all time, with the 2018 remake just ever so slightly edging out the 1977 original thanks to its expansion on the film’s themes and plot to make something… Read More ›
“The Aeronauts” doesn’t seek to exist as a quiet, introspective costume drama, but as an adventure of the grandest scale imaginable. [Film Fest 919]
Whatever happened to wonder in films? Whatever happened to the sweeping scores layered over long, grand shots of adventure and peril? Why does everything feel so commercialized and insincere nowadays? I feel like whenever big blockbusters make you feel something,… Read More ›
Ambitious sci-fi thriller “The Fare” is now available on home video.
From director D.C. Hamilton and screenwriter Brinna Kelly, The Fare is a film that almost defies categorization. At times, if feels like a science-fiction mystery, with shocking and striking narrative shifts. At other points, it appears as a romantic dramedy,… Read More ›
“Frozen II”: Bigger, Bolder, Colder.
In 2013, you couldn’t turn on a radio without hearing Idina Menzel belting “Let It Go” and, by 2014, Halloween looked like an army of Elsas and Annas coming to pillage your candy. As much of a pop culture phenomenon… Read More ›
A Conversation with cinematographer Tom Sigel.
In 2018, Noel Manning interviewed Oscar-nominee Tom Sigel. He is an American cinematographer best known for his work on films like Bohemian Rhapsody, The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, and the X-Men film franchise. In 2020, you can catch his work on… Read More ›
“The Warrior Queen of Jhansi” is ineffective in capturing the strength and courage of a great historical martyr.
The documentation of the stain of British colonialism in India is not something that’s often covered in the western film industry, whether that be for an immense shame or a fear of looking back in the context of history. Many… Read More ›
Memoir adaptation “Blinded by the Light” puts a Springsteen soundtrack to a journey of self-identity.
When people talk about something being “timeless,” what do they mean? Are they referring to the aesthetic? To the sound? What about the structure? It’s all of these things and none of these things as timelessness refers to the innate… Read More ›
If you want a Prestige Picture, look elsewhere. If you’re in the mood for some fun, then it’s hail to “The King.” [Film Fest 919]
The idea of another prestige period drama is almost physically exhausting to my body at this point. Hell, The King isn’t even the first prestige period drama for Netflix in the last year, with David Mackenzie’s admirable, but not heavy-hitting,… Read More ›
A Conversation with cinematographer Phedon Papamichael.
Phedon Papamichael is a long-time cinematographer and has worked on films as varied as Nebraska, Cool Runnings, Phenomenon, Sideways and Walk the Line. Today he talks about his work on the James Mangold film Ford v Ferrari. Noel T. Manning… Read More ›
New documentary “To Kid Or Not To Kid” explores the diverse perspectives of having kids.
The question of whether or not to have children is faced by the majority of people at a certain point in their lives. Depending on factors such as each individual’s cultural background or socio-economic standing, there may be varying responses… Read More ›
“Honey Boy” is both brave and admirable, even if hard to reconcile. [Film Fest 919]
The world is a cruel place, and we are a cruel people within it. We love to put others down for the sake of making our own selves feel better, and we’ve all done it at some point or another…. Read More ›
By blending traditional art styles with modern animation, the Chinese folktale “Legend of the White Snake” takes on a new life in the GKIDS release “White Snake.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the “Legend of the White Snake,” it’s an ancient Chinese folktale dating back centuries. Rooted in oral history, the tale has been translated into song, print, television, and film many times over. In it, a human… Read More ›
Experience Victor Kossakovsky’s meditation on water “Aquarela”, on home video now.
Rated PG; however, be advised that, as a nature documentary, various harrowing elements are presented. Victor Kossakovsky’s documentary Aquarela is unlike anything you’ve seen before within the section of nature-focused films. Not only is it shot at 96 frames-per-second, a… Read More ›