“Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.” – Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) in Disclosure Day For much of his career, filmmaker Steven Spielberg has examined the tensions that exist within humanity, whether it’s the desire to uplift capitalism over… Read More ›
“Ask any racer. Any real racer. It don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning’s winning.” – Dominic Toretto, The Fast and the Furious Before they went to space, before they were international spies, before they… Read More ›
“For want of a nail.” This proverb speaks to how the absence of even the smallest thing can have a massive ripple effect. Folks tend not to think about the wider implications, especially when looking back on history, questioning or… Read More ›
One Night Only is the first film to capture the daily sacrament of ambiguity and self-hate called “Hinge.” It’s a crowd-pleasing rom-com that spends less than 30 seconds on a dating app. Instead, Monica Barbaro (At Midnight; A Complete Unknown)… Read More ›
Lionheart is the kind of late-20th-century action movie that shows a guy doused in gasoline and set ablaze within the first five minutes of runtime. The violence is rough, and brutal acts against the human body are depicted without hesitation…. Read More ›
There is inherently no point in pretending I had a single inkling of an idea of what I was getting into before watching Philip Kaufman’s (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) adaptation of Anaïs Nin’s diary. Reading that it was the… Read More ›
Review Warning: The following review will do its best to refrain from specific details as it relates to the filmmaker’s intention, but the source material is so woven into modern storytelling in a variety of ways that not discussing the… Read More ›
Romantic comedies come in all shapes and sizes, from a teacher and a night club singer falling in love at first sight (Vivacious Lady) to a billionaire falling for the escort he hired to pretend to be his girlfriend (Pretty… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: More than the previous film, Galaxy is filled with light designs that may prove triggering for photosensitive individuals; consider taking precautions before starting the film. In 2023, Illumination, with Nintendo as a partner, released The Super Mario Bros…. Read More ›
2010’s Despicable Me introduced audiences to master villain Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell), his darling three adopted girls, and, most importantly, to the Minions. The all-yellow-bodied, seemingly indestructible, unserious, devoted assistants to Gru’s villainy took the world by storm and,… Read More ›
The Blu-ray release of White Palace from Mill Creek Entertainment’s Retro VHS/Rewind Collection offers us a hidden gem within a fascinating point in the filmographies of James Spader (Secretary) and Susan Sarandon (Bull Durham). Spader was coming off a string of memorable performances… Read More ›
Putting together a masterwork of Spielberg’s biggest hits and career-defining moments, and boiling it down to eight films, feels ripe for interpretation and taste. The Spielberg Collection, in particular, was produced in partnership with Paramount Home Entertainment and Sony Pictures… Read More ›
One of the earliest Criterion films, spine #57, Stanley Donen’s Charade (1963), is finally is getting a 4K upgrade and has never looked better. While we will go in depth on how this new 4K restoration looks, special features, and… Read More ›
Very few filmmakers have enough star power to draw audiences to theaters in the modern day. One of those few is Steven Spielberg (Raiders of the Lost Arc; The Fabelmans). Every time his name appears on a poster, in a… Read More ›
I like Saturday Night Live, but I wouldn’t say I’m a die-hard fan by any stretch. However, it is an enjoyable program and I do try to watch it as much as I can when the host and/or musical guest… Read More ›
There are those among us who proudly describe themselves as “Amblin kids.” Sure, it’s a descriptor I’ve just made up, but if you grew up in the era of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985), Back to… Read More ›
Bear… bear… Big Bear… big bear chase meeeeeeee…! – Chet (John Candy) in The Great Outdoors In the modern era of comedy, there are few performers spoken of with the same reverence as John Candy. A Canadian actor and performer,… Read More ›
There have been a number of built-in computerized assistants since the wide-spread adoption of the personal computer. In my day, it was Clippy who popped up to offer guidance on the task you were seeking to complete. Then came Siri… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: The climax of the film includes an extended sequence of flashing that may prove triggering for photosensitive individuals. Take precautions. Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead … only try to realize the… Read More ›
The Good Shepherd follows a young, dedicated, and occasionally merciless fictional CIA agent named Edward Wilson (Matt Damon). Tracking his early years at Yale in the secret Skull and Bones society to the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, the film… Read More ›