Another year, another awards season. But this was no ordinary year. Where to begin, when we speak of 2016? Most years, I just pick my favorite films, and that’s it. But this year, it felt important to really think about these choices, and what they expressed about my feelings this year. That’s not to say […]
Read More Top Ten Films: 2016Since no studio executive can see into the future, it is impossible to to know if the right date has been selected to launch a film. Sure, 4th of July weekend was a pretty savvy time to release Independence Day back in 1996, and you can consider that a safe bet, but there are moments […]
Read More Stronger Together: Amy Adams Anchors ‘Animals’ & ‘Arrival’It’s the morning of the Oscar nominations, and I’m not upset. This is weird. All the films I wanted to see nominated for Best Picture are. All the actors I hoped to see receive nominations for this year’s performances were. Compare and contrast to last year’s fatal omission of Kathryn Bigelow as Best Director, or […]
Read More The Not-Oscars 2013Hollywood is obsessed with money, I say. Duh, you think in response. But hear me out. In 2013, Hollywood was particularly obsessed with money. Not just with making money, but with telling stories about making — and losing — money. In my Top Ten list last year, I named Zero Dark Thirty my favorite film […]
Read More Top Ten Films: 2013Hey, Academy, are you paying attention? But of course you are! Here’s a movie featuring a whole bunch of last year’s Oscar nominees, including several past Oscar winners, made by a guy who’s made two Oscar favorites in the last three years. (And now one more.) Basically, there was no way in hell American Hustle […]
Read More Russell Does The ‘Hustle’: An All-American Ode To BullshitAs everyone knows, franchises are Hollywood’s bread and butter. Yes, the bread is usually stale and the butter has been sitting out long enough that it’s getting hard on the outside, but that doesn’t matter to your average moviegoer, who generally hates cinematic surprises of any kind. There are movies, and then there are sequels, […]
Read More Still ‘Bourne’: Renner Fills In For A Phantom DamonContinuing my retrospective Top 10 lists… Okay, so this was the year the Oscars got on my nerves for announcing ten Best Picture nominees. (And judging by what was included in those ten, I think we can all agree that I was right to be irked… which is some vindication, at least.)
Read More Top Ten Films: 2009Well, I finally have time to write something about The Avengers. But what to say about a movie so massive? Something everybody’s already nattering on about? A film that easily took the record for the best opening weekend of all time? I thought maybe I wouldn’t bother, but considering that it was my most anticipated […]
Read More ‘Avenge’ Of The Nerds: Joss Whedon Saves The World A LotSince it was my Most Anticipated Film Of 2012, I obviously am riled up about this.
Read More Trailer Trash: Joss Whedon’s ‘The Avengers’There’s a new Jason Bourne movie coming out. The bad news? There’s no actual Jason Bourne in it — meaning, no Matt Damon. And no Paul Greengrass, either. The good news? Jeremy Renner, Edward Norton, and Rachel Weisz have been added to the franchise — plus the return of Joan Allen. I guess that will […]
Read More Trailer Trash: Jeremy Renner In ‘The Bourne Legacy’(Movies discussed in this post: Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.) I had the makings of a fanboy. Things could very well have turned out differently for me, had I continued my worship of Batman and the T-Rex instead of turning my eye […]
Read More I Need A Hero: Is Tom Cruise Still The Best Action Star We’ve Got?
REAL NOBODY 