Something important to know about me: the Scream series is one of my all-time favorites. The first film is unmatched, in my opinion. The second and third films are a bit dated, but still good. The fourth one still had to same feeling as the films before it. So, that’s where my expectations were. And the 2022 Scream did not disappoint. An absolute love letter to the … Continue reading Scream (2022): For Wes
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter. I find it very fitting that, as I sit down to write this post, it looks as if it may rain outside. I have only ever watched Mike Nichols’ The Graduate twice in my life: once as I was ending high school, going into college and the other in my junior year of … Continue reading 17. The Graduate (1967)
After being rejected by the Confederate military, not realizing it was due to his crucial civilian role, an engineer must single-handedly recapture his beloved locomotive after it is seized by Union spies and return it through enemy lines. You know what’s funny? Every single synopsis that I’ve read for Buster Keaton’s 1926 film The General has put emphasis on the civil war aspect of the film. And, … Continue reading 18. The General (1926)
An ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate’s victims. I tell you what, we just don’t get the same cattiness from filmmakers like we did in the 50s and 60s. Elia Kazan made On the Waterfront as a direct response … Continue reading 19. On the Waterfront (1954)
Some filmmaker, at some point in time, will make a great film about the lives of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, because this one was a miss. That’s not to say that it’s bad, because it isn’t. It’s just not great. And the reasons for that seem to be endless. The biggest thing Being the Ricardo’s has going against it is its casting. From the moment … Continue reading Being the Ricardos (2021)
Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter was a film that hit me unexpectedly. I went in knowing very little about it. All I knew is that the film was adapted and directed by Gyllenhaal, and starred Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Jessie Buckley, and was categorized by Netflix as “cerebral, understated, intimate”. And that’s it. That’s all I had to go off of. I had no … Continue reading The Lost Daughter (2021)
You know, I don’t know that I would classify Adam McKay’s new film Don’t Look Up a comedy, only because it emphasized that already hopeless feeling that I have for the state that our world is in today. Did I find it funny, though? Oh, of course I did. If I can’t laugh at the state we are in, then I’ll just end up crying … Continue reading Don’t Look Up (2021): So Close to Home That it’s Almost Hard to Watch
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed. I thought it was very poetic that my watch day for It’s a Wonderful Life just happened to land on Christmas eve, the night that my father and I would always have a viewing of this film. For those that … Continue reading 20. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946 )
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder. This is a film that has, unfortunately, stood the test of time. I say “unfortunately” because the subject matter of a film released in 1974 that takes place in the 1930s is still relevant today. Unfortunately, Chinatown was also directed by Roman … Continue reading 21. Chinatown (1974)
If you’ve been with me for a while you’ll know that I’m not always keen on fan service when it comes to comic book films. Mainly because the fan base, at times, can be toxic and giving them what they want to see can kind of be like rewarding bad behavior. However, in the case of Spider-Man: No Way Home, I am all for playing into … Continue reading Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021): Fan Service At It’s Finest
