I said I was going to watch these oscar-look-out movies and write again. I watched two. I did not write. It’s interesting, noting when I am moved to write. After Dad died, I needed to write. It’s as if I could not state what I wanted about life, so I had to write about other things. After…
We can count on a lot during the summer months (some that we love more than others): heat, ice cream, mosquitos, sprinklers – – – and blockbuster movies in the cold AC. It is the latter I enjoyed recently—that blockbuster style of movie with no hint of Oscars or awards but purely meant to entertain: Godzilla: King…
Interestingly, the final movie I saw in my 2019 Oscar race was my favorite. I loved this movie. It provided everything that I want in an excellent film. The movie tells a compelling story. The characters are well developed. I liked the characters and cheered for them, even with all of their messy parts. The…
Until about 2pm on this day I’m finally writing my thoughts about The Favourite, this film was my favorite of the season. This means it’s still a beloved film. It’s still a movie that has settled down deep inside of me as a great piece of art. And it’s still a film that puzzles and…
Roma is a beautifully poignant movie. From the opening scene of the sky’s reflection on the water below to the closing scene of the open sky itself, the movie fills everything in between. Admittedly, I had to look up 1970s Mexico to have a better understanding of the premise of what was happening in history…
How is this in any Oscar Category other than six entries in live action shorts? The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is not a feature-length film. Instead, it’s a series of six short films. Okay, so apparently this means it’s an anthology film because each of the six is tied together in theme: the American west.…
First Reformed is a slow-paced movie that builds to an expected climatic ending that doesn’t squarely deliver it’s punch. Ethan Hawk plays a depressed minister in an historic upstate New York tiny church with a string of unresolved issues haunting him. This church is overshadowed by its contemporary, which handles the business side of this…
Not being familiar by name alone with the painting of the same name as this film, I had no idea what this movie was about when I began watching it. (No, I hand’t even looked at the movie poster; I had this on my viewing list only based on award nominations.) Quickly, I realized it…
This film is beautiful. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful in how it’s told, in the love of family, in the belief in others, in tenderness. It’s beautiful visually. It’s beautiful to experience. It’s also, though, heartbreaking in the reality that is injustice. And discrimination. It’s heartbreaking in the reality of hate-filled people. It’s…
I’ve written a few times this season about liking or caring about characters in a film and about how that leaves one feeling as the closing credits roll. Can You Ever Forgive Me? is particularly challenging in that aspect. These characters, on their surface, are quite unlikeable. Yet the depth the actors bring to the…
As my movie companion noted after we saw Bohemian Rhapsody, a jolly time! (Okay, so that was part my fabulous company as we spent a few hours after the movie catching up over lunch and a few beers, but the movie was a great time too!) Really, though, there’s little I had to complain about watching…
Like most movies I see, especially this time of year, if a film is up for a major award, I purposefully avoid any reviews or other information about the film. I usually go in knowing only what I might have seen on a preview. And I’m so pleased when a film delivers something particularly interesting. The…
Confession: I don’t think I ever watched the entire 1976 version of A Star is Born (bits and parts, but not the whole thing in any one sitting). And I’d had no idea that this 2018 version is the fourth (fifth, internationally) version of the tale. Maybe the Streisand-Kristofferson version, as third, was a charm…
Some time ago, someone I know on Facebook (I don’t recall who) mentioned watching BlacKkKlansman and commented not liking this movie “that was supposed to be a comedy.” I was busy, so I didn’t stop to comment, but I should have. I’m not sure who gave her that impression, that this film is a comedy.…
“He’s shell-shocked, George. He’s not himself. He may never be himself again.” Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is not a movie about dialogue, but that line from the film certainly says a lot about the movie and about those who will survive being trapped at Dunkirk. This movie is bleak. It’s wonderfully filmed. But it is bleak.…