Film and TV Reviews and Podcasts
The Two Popes provides an interesting peek behind the curtain at the life of the head of the Catholic Church, but it comes up slightly short as a two-handed biography. McCarten’s script injects enough humor to a tale of two stuffy old men to make it fun and engaging.
The underlying message of honor and perseverance in the face incredible odds in 1917 is a noble undertaking and a worthy tribute to the people who fought in WWI. Although that message does get slightly lost in the spectacle, the single shot technique is a wonder to behold and impressive in and of itself.
It may be hard to believe given his post-2000 movie roles, but Sandler is electric from beginning to end. He’s never been better, topping his previous high when directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in Punch Drunk Love. Without Sandler’s frenetic energy, Uncut Gems would not be able to sustain its breakneck pace for the quickest 130 minutes you’ll sit through all year.
Merry Christmas! In this episode, Kyrsten and I review Tom Hooper’s abysmal adaptation of Cats in a non-spoiler review. Then we cover Bong Joon-ho’s incredible Parasite in a full review. We also discuss Mike Birbiglia’s 2016 film Don’t Think Twice and have our usual nonsense.
Abrams had a Star Destroyer-sized task in front of him, in that he had to not only wrap up a highly-anticipated trilogy, give each character enough screen and plot time, and include enough Star Wars lore to keep the diehard fans interested (not to mention he had to make an entertaining movie, of course). And, yes, Abrams does succeed in some respects with this entry.
In this week’s episode, Evan Dossey from MidwestFilmJournal.com and the IFJA joins me to talk about the Indiana Film Journalists Association award winners for 2019. We also touch on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, my disconnect with the franchise, and its connection to The Last Jedi.
Cats is a lifeless husk of barely comprehensible storytelling interspersed with an endless string of songs, only two of which are memorable.
At the end of each year, the IFJA meets to hash out the award winners in various categories. We met Saturday and spent several hours discussing films and selecting winners. It was my first year as a voting member of the group and I am very pleased with what we awarded and the films and talen we recognized. Today, we’re announcing the winners!
In this week’s episode, we welcome back our friend and OV contributor Ben Sears to help Tiny and I with double Adam Driver review of Amazon Studios’ The Report and Netflix’s Marriage Story. We also lightly touch on the Golden Globe nominations and the trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Then, in Potpourri, we talk about Little Women, Netflix’s Unbelievable, Dickinson, Servant, and Truth Be Told.
The Beach Bum left me genuinely questioning whether it was meant to be a drama about a stoner’s laid back attitude toward life or if it was a comedy about a bumbling, carefree guy coasting through it. The sad truth is, I really think it’s neither of those things.
Frozen essentially came out of nowhere to reinvigorate Disney’s musical princess movie algorithm. Instead of romance, the real goal for the main heroine was her own self-love and acceptance. So how do you follow-up something like that? For directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee (who directed the first film), the motto seems to have been “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Happy Thanksgiving (to those of you in the US)! In this special double parking lot special episode, Kyrsten and I have a laid-back non-spoiler review of Knives Out and then Tiny and I go into a spoiler review of the film! Then, to close out the episode, we have the remaining Red Carpet recordings from last month’s Heartland International Film Festival!
Writer/star Mindy Kaling and director Nisha Ganatra’s “boss from hell” movie about an underdog in late night TV is plagued by underutilized supporting characters, underdeveloped subplots, and a borderline unlikable co-lead character. Late Night’s saving grace is a strong performance by Emma Thompson who, despite her character being nearly irredeemably obnoxious, is served well enough by a script that misuses most of the other characters and subplots.
This week, Tiny and I catch up on what we’ve watched lately with an Extended Potpourri episode. In it, we discuss Disney+, The Boys, Brittany Runs a Marathon, Joker, El Camino, and much more.
Part thriller, part socioeconomic fable, and part black comedy, the brilliance of Parasite is when it effortlessly – and, more important, believably – changes its tone, sometimes within the same scene. Any given moment could easily elicit laughter or gasps of horror from one person to another, and neither would be wrong in their reactions. I hate to be so vague and evasive, but it should be stated that Parasite is one of the rare films that is truly best experienced when knowing as little as possible before viewing.
The Obsessive Viewer 