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 life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it. Raging Bull is a film that is often synonymous with 1980s American culture. Directed by Martin Scorsese, Raging Bull oozes a particular brand of masculine energy. The film, starring Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, and Joe Pesci, introduces the audience … Continue reading 4. Raging Bull (1980)
A silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his delusionally jealous screen partner are trying to make the difficult transition to talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood. I firmly believe that this film has stood the test of time and remains on this list because it is a near perfect look and commentary on what happened during the transition from silent … Continue reading 5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
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)
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis. Schindler’s List is, arguably, the defining Holocaust film. I remember having to get a waiver signed when I was in the eighth grade, so we could watch the film once we finished our Holocaust unit. (Yes. We had a Holocaust unit.) … Continue reading 8. Schindler’s List (1993)
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)
