Filling in the Film Holes re. Two Past Mammoth Films

Time Magazine just released another of their polls, “the best movies from every decade”. I had some holes in my film files, so just like summer construction, it was time to fill in some potholes. I rented Brian De Palma’s Blowout with John Travolta and a very young and too believably creepy John Lithgow. Dennis… Continue reading Filling in the Film Holes re. Two Past Mammoth Films

Even The Quiet Girl Deserves the Big Screen

I love the movie theater experience and I do regret not seeing The Quiet Girl in such a setting. Watching it at home was meaningful, but as I’ve said over and over in these posts, size matters: the bigger screen the larger the emotions. But The Quiet Girl is still worth seeing, no matter your… Continue reading Even The Quiet Girl Deserves the Big Screen

Women Have Come a Long Way Barbie

Barbie, written (with the help of her “Ken”, Noah Baumbach) and directed by Greta Gerwig was a triumphant feat of creativity. To begin I’ll start with the many positive performances. Cast: Margot Robbie is perfect as Stereotypical Barbie, but possibly only due to the incredible writing and narration of Helen Mirren, who, visa vie Gerwig,… Continue reading Women Have Come a Long Way Barbie

Oppenheimer: Artistic Feat

Christopher Nolan is DaVinci, and this is why I could never say, “Hey Leonardo, I love your Mona Lisa but if you could just put a date and age tag for Mona on the bottom of the canvas that’d be so nice.” No, I would never do that, same with CN, even though I wanted… Continue reading Oppenheimer: Artistic Feat

Commission Possible: Dead Reckoning Dialogue

Fun vocabulary fact: Commission can mean the money you make on sales. Commission can also mean the act of granting certain powers or the authority to carry out a particular task or duty. And boy did the “writers” have a commission for lame dialogue. Read on. But first, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning is worth seeing.… Continue reading Commission Possible: Dead Reckoning Dialogue

Past Lives, Present Jives, Imbalance Thrives

*Fair Warning: Spoilers are here, breaking my promise, but just this once: Day Two of ponderings (with gratitude toward @Filmspotting for helping nudge me to my current feeling for the film). My reaction and thought process about the film Past Lives has changed like phases of the moon. So it’s appropriate that today’s Super Moon… Continue reading Past Lives, Present Jives, Imbalance Thrives

No Hard Feelings: Bringin’ Back the Bawdy

Gene Stupnitsky (Picture Groucho Marx with a cigar saying, “With a last name like that you’ve got to have a sense of humor”) and John Phillips wrote No Hard Feelings with the former (Stupnitsky) directing the movie. They worked together on The Office and Stupnitsky also wrote and directed Bad Teacher, another guilty pleasure of… Continue reading No Hard Feelings: Bringin’ Back the Bawdy

The Return I Was Hoping For: W.A.’s Asteroid City

I’ve always enjoyed Wes Anderson with one exception, French Dispatch. And when I say exception, I hated the depressing black and white, couldn’t relate to any of the characters and the three stories amounted to an emotional zilch. But Wes Anderson, with the help of Roman Coppola, has returned to an artistically creative plateau with… Continue reading The Return I Was Hoping For: W.A.’s Asteroid City

The Eight Mountains: Rapturous Butte* (*2 syllables, long E)

Ok humor me on the title, since I just went down a rabbit hole searching for a clever mountain term. I now know the Alps are still getting taller and what a massif is…I digress… The Eight Mountains is a fabulous book written by Paolo Cognetti and was adapted to the screen by writer/director Felix… Continue reading The Eight Mountains: Rapturous Butte* (*2 syllables, long E)

It Ain’t Over; I Sure Hope Not

It Ain’t Over is a touching documentary written and directed by Sean Mullin. I fought back tears several times and credit Yogi Berra’s gorgeous life story most, but Sean Mullin assuredly spun the tale in a very entertaining way. Mostly through excellent old films and news clippings, Mullin uses Berra’s beautiful granddaughter as the springboard… Continue reading It Ain’t Over; I Sure Hope Not