They did what I thought was impossible: figure out how to carry on the Scream franchise without Sidney Prescott. And, in a shocking turn of events, I’m happy about it. Like most fans of the heavily self-aware franchise, I saw the film as close to premiere day as I could. Scream is one of those series that is near and dear to my heart, as I’m … Continue reading Scream VI (2023): A Bloody Hell of a Good Time
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty in postwar New York City transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant youngest son. It is crystal clear why The Godfather is so high up on the AFI list. It’s the “be all, end all” of movies for many. It’s a masterclass on filmmaking, honestly. And there’s so many components that director Francis Ford Coppola … Continue reading 2. The Godfather (1972)
On December 3rd, I had the pleasure of sitting in on a panel at Los Angeles Comic Con. The panel, hosted by the podcast Geekscape, was a Q&A with Gremlins director Joe Dante and one of the Executive Producers of the upcoming Gremlins project at HBO: Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Brendan Hay. The nerd in me was super excited about this. Gremlins played a crucial part in beginning … Continue reading A Brief Discussion with Joe Dante
Before I can go any further, I need to tell you a bit of my own family history. I grew up with an amazing, loving father. He discovered he had a brain aneurysm in his temporal lobe, behind his eye when I was twelve and my brother eight years old. My father was only forty-four years old when he had his first stroke. One of … Continue reading The Whale (2022)
A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco. I’m going to be honest: I have tried to start this article four times now. All because I have no idea what I want to say about the film Casablanca. It’s a film that I own. It’s a film … Continue reading 3. Casablanca (1942)
The manipulative daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a turbulent romance with a roguish profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction periods. Weird to me that that’s a synopsis for this film. I feel like the film is about more than that. However, with it’s blatant glorification of the south during slavery, Gone with the Wind is a mighty hard pill to swallow. There … Continue reading 6. Gone with the Wind (1939)
This article contains spoilers for Jordan Peele’s Nope. Nope, written, directed, and produced by Jordan Peele, sees Daniel Kaluuya team up with the filmmaker once again, this time, playing Otis “OJ” Haywood Jr., the son of a ranch owner and Hollywood horse trainer, played by Keith David. KeKe Palmer plays OJ’s sister Emerald Haywood, Steven Yeun plays former child star/current amusement park owner Ricky “Jupe” … Continue reading Nope (2022)
The story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks. I remember first seeing this film in college. I was taking a class on Filmmakers of the 50s and 60s. We were studying David Lean and we watched Lawrence of Arabia over 2 class periods over 2 … Continue reading 7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Listen: save for Doctor Strange, Scott Derrickson can’t write a film for nothin’ (and I attribute Doctor Strange‘s success to the visuals and the control that Marvel had over the subject matter. There were standards to uphold.) Nearly every time I have watched a film written and directed by that man, I end up watching a film with flimsily put together characters who have little to … Continue reading The Black Phone (2022)
A former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed. Confession time: I have never seen Vertigo in one sitting, in its entirety. I have seen many scenes, and I knew an awful lot about the film. For example: did you know that Vertigo was one of the … Continue reading 9. Vertigo (1958)
