Top Ten Films: 2022

What do you know about art, kid?

“You Watch Your Mouth, Buddy” (#89)

When it comes to leading ladies, you’d have a hard time finding a more powerhouse lineup than 1991’s Thelma & Louise, which saw both of its stars nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars that year. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon play BFFs whose road trip goes seriously south when they shoot a rapist and […]

Not-Oscars 2019

Hello, and welcome to the awards announcement you have not been waiting for, The Not-Oscars! My annual list of accolades is not the talk of the town during awards season. The nominees are not thrilled to be nominated… because they will never even hear about it! The winners would not like to thank the Academy […]

In A Lonely Place: ‘Ad Astra’ & ‘The Lighthouse’

Without mankind’s inclination to push the limits of possibility, we wouldn’t have a number of scientific achievements we benefit from today — and we wouldn’t have a lot of epic movies. In one of 2017’s best films, The Lost City Of Z, James Gray took Charlie Hunnam and Robert Pattinson to the unexplored, inhospitable jungles […]

“I Am Jack’s Medulla Oblongata” (#71)

Shirts and shoes are forbidden in the latest episode of the When We Were Young podcast — and the fight will go on as long as it has to. It’s been 20 years since David Fincher’s savagely funny and brutally violent satire of Gen X male angst debuted in theaters, so we’re breaking Rule #1 […]

Something Witchy: ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’

Controversial opinion: Quentin Tarantino films are mixed bags. More often than not, it’s a pretty good mix! But I’ve never unabashedly loved one. Pulp Fiction is vital and iconic, but I don’t care what happens to any of its characters; after a near-perfect setup, Inglourious Basterds mostly forgets its title characters, and can’t stop introducing new […]

Solomon Chained: McQueen Unleashes A Mighty ‘Slave’

Sometimes, you feel like a movie is just speaking directly to you. I saw Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave last night, and I could so identify with the protagonist Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) — because I, too, have been subject to the twisted whims and brutal hand of cruel fates and a merciless master. […]

Top Ten Films: 2008

Before I started my own entertainment-related blog, my Top Tens had to whore themselves out on my friends’ pages. This one was originally posted on Justin Plus One. As usual with my Top Tens, I have preserved them as they were, even if, in hindsight, I may disagree with some of my own choices. (Did […]

Hard In The City vs. The Oscars: Live Blog & Winners 2011

Since my live blog of the Golden Globes this year was surprisingly popular (really, I didn’t think anyone would care what I have to say), I am again live-blogging and tweeting up a storm for the Academy Awards this evening. Should you need them, here are my predicted winners.

Gold Rush: Oscar Predictions 2012

Though so many of us take the Oscars very seriously (guilty as charged), really, it’s just a game. It’s no different than the Super Bowl, except there are about five teams playing in every “quarter” and it’s actually quite embarrassing to be wearing the same outfit as anyone else. No jerseys on the red carpet. […]

Gold Rush: Academy Award Nominees 2012

At this point, what else is there left to say, but: Oscars… Extremely Lame & Incredibly Disappointing.

Gold Rush: Oscar Nomination Predictions 2012

Predicting the Oscars is useless. Sure, it can be fun guessing the winners when the big night is nigh, but what’s the use of predicting nominees? I’m telling you, there is none. And yet, people do it. I use the term “people” to refer to that small handful of folks like myself for whom the […]