Top 10 of 2018

2018 is coming to an end and it comes time to reflect on the year in movies.  It was a very great year for movies.  There were some truly unique flicks (Sorry to Bother you, First Reformed), some incredibly strong documentaries (Three Identical Strangers, RBG, They Shall Not Grow Old, Won’t You Be my Neighbor?) and some awesome sequels (Avengers: Infinity War, Halloween).  There were some movies this year that took me back to my childhood, Christopher Robin chief among them.  I loved those two hour revisits to my younger years.  2018 also saw its fair share of disappointing movies (Mary Poppins Returns) but that comes standard with any year.

As in years past I had the privilege of seeing some old friends on the big screen.  The Audrey Hepburn Sabrina, Mel Brooks’ comedy Young Frankenstein, The John Wayne classic True Grit, the classic Sunset Blvd, and horror flick The Changeling were just a few of the classic titles that flickered before my eyes.

Now the time comes to announce my top ten films of the year.  As always I have included The Best of the Rest, which will include my favorite performances and screenplay.  Over the years I’ve included “The One that Got Away”, a tradition I’ve become rather fond of.  Again you’ll find it in The Best of the Rest.  Without further ado, my top ten of 2018:

10. The Old Man & The Gun

I love Robert Redford and if this is truly his final bow on the big screen I will miss seeing him grace the silver screen.  The movie is a simple story that is told simply.  It’s got a lot of charm to it and is well worth paying the price for the ride.

9. Three Identical Strangers

2018 was a strong year for documentaries.  RBG, They Shall Not Grow Old, Won’t You Be Neighbor are all worthy of being on this list as much as Three Identical Strangers.  What makes this one stand out is an intriguing story, that I didn’t know anything about.  I was floored that this sort of thing happened outside of 1930’s era Germany.  After seeing this movie you’ll want to hug your sibling or someone you consider to be a sibling.

8. Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Melissa McCarthy oozes talent.  She does great comedy (Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters) and does it well.  Can You Ever Forgive Me? proves she can do great dramatic roles and do it well.  The true story focuses on her character forging letters my celebrity literary figures and her obviously profiting from this talent.  The story is intriguing and more than kept me hooked until the very end.

7. Green Book

Imaging a reverse Driving Miss Daisy and through in some great classical music and you’ll get Green Book.  It’s suppose to be a feel good movie and it very much is.  The movie is a great road trip movie through an important and uncomfortable part of American history.  It shines a very bright light on that history.  Plus it stars Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, two great actors.

6. First Man

There are a lot of movies based on true events on this years top ten list.  None of the events are more famous than those portrayed in First Man.  The movie focuses on Neil Armstrong and his eventual giant leap for man kind on the moon.  Ryan Gosling shines in the center role and is upstaged by Claire Foy as Neil Armstrong’s wife.  I love human triumph stories and feel telling this one now is important.  I may just be able to forgive director Damien Chazelle for La La Land.

5. Bohemian Rhapsody 

In the court of greatest showmen ever to perform Freddy Mercury sits at the head of the table.  The music in the movie is great, as it should be because it’s Queen.  The performances in the film are great because they were performed by talented people.  The climax of the movie, the Live Aid performance, is like being at a Queen concert.  That alone is worth seeing the movie, especially in the theater with that movie theater surround sound.

4. BlackKklansman 

Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.  BlackKklansman is one of those movies.  Spike Lee directed his best movie in years and in doing so created a truly special movie.  It goes in every strange direction.  The movie draws a few too many parallels to today’s political climate but considering the subject matter and films director I’d be disappointed if it didn’t.  Don’t let the films almost two and a half hour runtime deter you from seeing a really special movie.

3. Sorry to Bother You

What a powerful and unique voice this movie had.  The film started one way and about three quarters the way through took a very different, almost out of left field, turn.  I loved this movie for that.  In addition to the movies unique story telling the movie held a great since of unique humor through out.  Truly one of the most unique films of the past few years.

2. Widows

Heists movies excel at either a really good story or really good characters.  Widows is that rare exception that blends both those together perfectly.  Viola Davis, one of my favorite actresses working today, leads an incredible ensemble.  The film has some great twists and turns and is exciting to watch.  Oceans 8 should see this as a reference point for what a female led and good heist movie in general should look like.  

1. First Reformed

It’s not number one because the word first appears in the title, this movie appears first because it’s a damn fine movie.  I love movies that require me to think about it and create a debate around the events in the film.  First Reformed did that to the finest.  The brilliant performances of both Amanda Seyfried and Ethan Hawke top an incredible movie. Because of the subject matter this is a hard film to recommend but it doesn’t stop me from naming it the best film of 2018.

THE BEST OF THE REST:

Every year I publish this list around the New Year.  However there are a handful of releases, from the listed year, that I did not get to see until after publication.  I created the one that got away to honor a great film from the previous year that did not get a chance to be on the top ten list.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY: The Post

The Post is an incredible story backed by some incredible talent, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, & Steven Spielberg.  The story this movie tells is an important story in any political climate, today especially.   It looks at the responsibility, and struggles, of journalists to publish materials for the American people, much like the best picture winner Spotlight.  I was captivated by the struggles that were laid before the protagonists and cheered when the final outcome was reached.  That made for a strong movie. 

ACTRESS (Lead or Supporting): 

Melissa McCarthy Can You Ever Forgive Me?

ACTOR (Lead or Supporting): 

Christian Bale Vice

SCREENPLAY (Original or adapted):

Sorry to Bother You

A Mid November Movie Briefing

Hello once again Dear bloggers!

November is quickly approaching its half way point.  Soon we are carving turkeys and stuffing stockings.  Looking past over the past week and a half I’ve had quite the movie binge.  Please allow me to share.

I’m going to start with three old friends I revisited.  Tonight at movie club I showed  Mumford, an oddball Rom Com from the late 90’s.  I remember renting it from Blockbuster, kuddos to those readers who know what a Blockbuster is.  I loved then and was super excited a few years ago to get the dvd from swapadvd.com.  I hadn’t seen it since it showed up in the mail, that fateful night a few years back.  I had forgotten some of the better jokes and I’m glad I got to introduce friends and family to such a unique film.  Introducing folks to unique films, like Mumford, is one of the reasons I like doing dvd night.  

The other two films I revisited were 2001: A Space Odyssey and Searching for Sugarman.  I saw both on the big screen.  2001: A Space Odyssey was a visual feast while Searching for Sugarman was like listening to a rock concert.  Both great experiences.  

My movie binge doesn’t stop there.  I saw many new releases on the big screen.  Speaking of listening to rock concerts Bohemian Rhaspody,  was just that.  The Freddie Mercury biopic hit all my favorite Queen songs while show casing the showman’s life.

I saw a pair of horror flicks.  First was the Suspiria remake.  I love Tilda Swinton and she shined in all three of her roles.  The film was also very visually pretty.  It failed to capture the mood of the original though.  It was also two and a half hours, which for that story was a bit long.  The other horror flick was the JJ Abrams produced Overlord.  Nazi zombie like soldiers and American heroes made for a movie that was a lot of fun to watch.  The filmmakers just ran with the story and made a highly entertaining flick.  It’s a great popcorn movie.

I saw the two holiday releases.  The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was also very pretty to look at but that’s the end of my enjoyment of that movie.  The Grinch was ok.  I thought Benedict Cumberbatch was miss cast as the voice of the Grinch.  I’d love to see what Tilda Swinton would of done with the role.  

Can You Ever Forgive Me? was the most fascinating movie I saw during the binge.  It proves Melissa McCarthy can act outside of comedy, where she is very talented.  It’s the kind of movie I like because I’m still thinking about it days later.  Kind of like the documentary I saw, Free Solo.  While Free Solo has the fascinating factor it and was very good it doesn’t have the staying power that Can You Ever Forgive Me? has.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web was good as well.  It didn’t have the intensity that other films in the series had.  In fact it plays more like a James Bond flick but I definitely enjoyed the movie.

The last film I saw was Beautiful Boy, which is a very hard film to watch.  Considering the subject matter though I expected that.  Steve Carell continues to surprise me with his talent.  After all this is the guy who made The 40 Year Old virgin.  

Anyways I’m sure I’m forgetting something but I can always circle back.  Good night!

My Oscar Wish

It’s November, the light of day has been over come by the darkness of night.  I love it.  It’s also the time of year when the big awards contenders take their swings at the box office.  

My hopes this year for the Oscars is diversity in the kinds of films nominated for awards.  Yes I want diverse nominees in color and gender.  But what I want also is to see all kinds of movies nominated for awards.

I expect films like Blackkklansman, First Reformed, and First Man to be nominated in multiple categories.  All worthy films as well.

I’d love to see a comedy score multiple nominations including best picture.  Sorry to Bother You, a strange and unique comedy, would be a fantastic choice to be nominated for awards including best picture.

Speaking of best picture why aren’t more animated flicks nominated.  In the 90 year history only three have competed for the best picture.  This years Isle of Dogs would be a great fourth.  Also no documentaries have ever been nominated for the coveted best picture award.  Three Identical Strangers and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? are both fantastic films.  Both movies will surely compete for best documentary and I’d love to see them compete for best picture as well.

Why don’t genre films, such as westerns or horror, get nominated as well? This year Toni Collette gave an incredible performance in Hereditary.  She’d give any actress nominated a run for her money for the award.  A Quiet Place would also be a great best picture nominee.  It’s a well crafted film that creates great suspense.  

As always I look forward to seeing what gets nominated for the Oscars!

A Movie Round Up

Hello Bloggers!!

I’ve seen a fair amount of films recently and wanted to give my two cents on them.  With that said let’s dive right in.

First is a pair of documentaries.  The new Michael Moore movie, Fahrenheit 11/9, is out.  Did I enjoy it? The wording of that question maybe wrong.  I thought it was thought provoking and not as extreme as some other of his movies.  It did have some extreme moments though.  I really was impressed with how Michael Moore dug into Obama, at times.  The second documentary, and almost a complete 180, is Love Gilda.  I, of course, loved it.  I went in really bias though, I’m a huge fan of Gilda Radner.  

Sticking with genres in pairs I saw the comedies The Happy Time Murders and Night School.  I laughed a lot at both films.

The Nun was another one I was looking forward to seeing.  I thought the story needed some work but overall enjoyed the film.  It had some pretty good scares.

The Wife was powerful and Glenn Close will surely compete for an Oscar this year.

Green Book was FANTASTIC!! Viggo Mortensen and Maherhala Ali (Moonlight, Hidden Figures) both were at the top of their craft in this movie.  While the story has been told before it’s still a thought provoking must see.

Finally I got to see an old friend on the big screen again.  Young Frankenstein may not be my favorite Mel Brooks film but its pretty close to the top of the list.  I laughed at the same jokes with eager anticipation.  

Now back to preparing for DVD night!

FALL PREVIEW 2018

At the grocery store today I saw Halloween candy.  That means the following: the nights are getting longer and soon the heat will break.  Hopefully.  Most importantly it is almost fall!!!!  It’s my favorite time of the year for many reasons but a big one is the Oscar movies.  There’s a lot of releases, big and small, I want to see.

First there’s a pair of horror flicks I really want to see: The Conjuring spinoff The Nun and Halloween, the rebooted sequel.  In the horror companion vein sci-fi The Predator is also being released.  That looks awesome.

A handful of sequels will grace the screens as well. The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Wreck it Ralph 2, Fantastic Beasts 2, Creed II, and Goosebumps 2 are all films I am really looking forward to seeing.

I’m intrigued by the plots of A Simple Favor and White Boy Rick.  Plus The Sisters Brothers is coming out and it’s a western.  I really like westerns.

The cartoon Smallfoot looks like a lot of fun.  The holiday cartoon remake of The Grinch looks so so to me but odds are I’ll end up seeing it.  Same with the live action The Nutcracker.

First Man is a top of my list of films to see this fall.  I love the premise and I may just have to forgive the director for La La Land, if First Man lives up to expectations.  

I’m intrigued by Can You Ever Forgive Me?  I really want to see Melissa McCarthy in a dramatic role.  

If Beale Street Could Talk I am also super excited for.  It’s a James Baldwin adaptation.  Also it’s from the director of Moonlight, which is an incredible piece of cinema. 

The true story, On the Basis of Sex, I’m looking forward to as well.  I loved the documentary RBG, and am a fan of Justice Ginsberg.  

Aquaman, Bumblebee, and Mary Poppins Returns (why???) all don’t appeal to me.  I can be pressured into seeing them, if it means I get to hang out with people.

I’ll see you at the movies.

Summer Movie Round up

The temperature may still be hot but the nights are getting longer.  The summer movie season is winding down and with one movie left I want to see I’m looking back at what I saw this summer.
First there were three films worthy of awards consideration: The Rider, Dorry to Bother You, and First Reformed. 
The summer screens saw their traditional wave of sequels. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Incredibles 2 topped my list. The Sicario and Mission Impossible sequels I also thoroughly enjoyed.
As for original films The Meg was a blast to watch. Three Identical Strangers was an incredible documentary. It’s a thought provoking movie that creates an incredibly interesting and timely discussion for its viewers to have. Skyscraper was also a hell of a ride.  Of course I loved Christopher Robin. Why wouldn’t I?
Leave No Trace, The Spy Who Dumped Me, and Solo: A Star Wars Story all left me wanting more. I enjoyed them but felt they were underwhelming.
Of course there were films I didn’t care for after I saw them.  Oceans 8, Upgrade, and On Chesil Beach Top that list. I intentionally missed The Seagull. It looked so bad.
I’ll see BlackkKlansman tonight and call it a summer season. Here’s looking to you fall movie season.

2018 in documentaries. (So Far)

It’s coming to the end of July and soon my favorite movie season will be upon us.  Fall movies means the big Oscar bait features glow across the silver screens.  There’s been a few this year that deserve recognition.  Chiefly, the trio known as, The Rider, First Reformed, and Sorry to Bother You.

As you slide down the Oscar ballot to a more obscure category, you’ll find a variety of strong contenders have already been projected on to the screen.  Of course I’m talking about documentary feature film.

There’s been a variety of the standard biographical documentaries, from the first half of the year.  Some of the very strong entries include: Itzhak (about the violinist Itzhak Perlman), Bombshell: The Hedy Lamaar Story (about actress and inventor Hedy Lamaar), Leaning Into the Wind (about artist Andy Goldsworty), and Pope Francis: A Man of his Word (no explanation needed).

There have been three incredible documentaries I’ve seen this year, in a year of strong documentaries, and am rooting for these three come Oscar season.  First up is RBG, about the Supreme Court Justice and Women’s right activist Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  She’s an incredible woman whose story is just as incredible.

Won’t You Be my Neighbor? is the second documentary of the three.  It tells the story of Mr Rogers and his work on television.  The man was a genius and one hell of a genuine human being.  His story is more then worth the price of admission.  

  The third documentary, and the strongest one this year, is Three Identical Strangers.  The film focuses on a set of triplets who discover one another at community college.  To further complicate things they uncover a study on nature v nurture they were taking part in.  This movie is a great conversation piece, and one I look forward to talking about.  Yes it’s designed to be uncomfortable at times but thus is life.  See it, talk about it, and come awards season let’s cheer it on to win best documentary of the year.

My Week in Cinema 7.15.18-Present

Y’all, for better or worse, it’s been one hell of a week.  Anyways before I go on a tangent about this one hell of a week I got some quality movie time in, to counter balance things.

Sunday truly sucked.  I wasn’t looking forward to it.  I bookended my day with two completely different movies.  In the morning I was trying very hard to keep out of a funk.  I felt I needed to fill a few hours with something violent and a lot of bad language, in other words something that comes with a HARD R RATING.  A rewatch of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece Full Metal Jacket fit that bill nicely.  It didn’t do anything to change my spirits but I did enjoy rewatching it.  That night, after the festivities settled down I journeyed to a late night showing of Hotel Transylvania 3.  It ended up being a lot of fun and I got to see it with my movie buddy, a good friend.

My next movie outing came quickly.  Some friends and I went to a matinee of Sorry to Bother You.  What a unique movie that was.  It had an original since of humor while making its points without slapping them across my face.  The last 25% of that movie I never saw coming, which is good in a strange way.  If you see this movie you’ll understand that last sentence more.  This is one of two films, this summer, destined to make my annual top ten list come winter.

Moving on to Skyscaper.  A group of us went the other night.  What a blast of a movie to watch.  It’s one you don’t think about at all, cause if you do you’ll be over thinking it already.  You sit back with your snacks and enjoy the ride.  I like describing the film as the bastard off spring of Die Hard and The Towering Inferno, starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

This morning I rewatched Chef, from the comfort and safety of home.  I was preparing food for a party I’m hosting this weekend.  The movie seemed like the right one to view again.  I truly love this movie.  It’s a gem to watch even when you’re not cooking.  

This evening, once again with my movie buddy, I ventured back to my local cinema to see The Equalizer II.  I wasn’t expecting a whole hell of a lot.  Much to my surprise it’s a well thought out action movie.  Denzel Washington does not disappoint.

Looking back on this list I saw all four movies with friends.  I truly appreciated the company this week while in this, let’s call it a funk, mainly cause I don’t want to label it something more depressing.  (Though in reality it is).  Hopefully things will start to turn around soon.  Good night & good luck.

Half Way through 2018 Check In

It’s now July, meaning the year is officially half way over.  Looking back  at the first half of 2018, the year  has brought the normal The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly releases for me.

THE GOOD:

The first really good release for me was the January release of 12 Strong.  I enjoy a good true story and a good war story.  This film was both.  Continuing with true stories I enjoyed The 15:17 to Paris.  Clint Eastwood is my favorite director working today.  Also the fact that he cast the real people as themselves was awesome.  They couldn’t act but I still thought it was a good decision.

On the horror/sci-fi front two films have really stood out.  A Quiet Place and Annihilation were both out in theaters by April.  Both kept me throughly entertained, despite an issue or two with the ending of A Quiet Place.  

The three other pre summer stand outs were Thoroughbreds (great thriller), RBG (a great documentary about a supreme court justice) and Isle of Dogs (awesome animated movie from Wes Anderson).

The summer started with Avengers: Infinity War, the second Marvel release of the year.  Like Black Panther I enjoyed it and both fell into the normal Marvel spectrum of they’re fun to watch.

Book Club and Tag were both a hoot to watch, if you’re looking for a comedy.

I enjoyed the big sequels in Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.  As for sequels go for this summer Sicario 2 has been my favorite.

Won’t You Be my Neighbor, about Mr Rogers, was another great documentary this year.

The one film I’ve loved above all else this summer is the indy flick First Reformed.  It’s a bit out there but keeps me thinking.  I loved the script and how debatable the ending is.

THE BAD & THE UGLY:

I didn’t really care for the adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time.  The film fell flat for me.  

The teen horror flick Truth or Dare wasn’t really my thing either.  The scares made me yawn as well as the lame story.

I like heist films but the two big ones this year, The Hurricane Heist and Oceans 8, left me wanting more.  The ladder film insulted my intelligence a the end by breaking down the heist a while after I figured what they were doing.

The jokes in the Overboard remake fell flat.  Then again I don’t find Anna Faris funny.

THE MEDIOCRE:

There’s one film and one film only I’m putting on this list: Solo: A Star Wars Story.  Unlike the first and far superior Star Wars spin off, Rogue One, I was unengaged in the story.  I didn’t dislike the guy playing Han.  I didn’t like him in the role either.  The actor playing Lando was awesome.  He was a blast to watch.

I got to say this is the first Star Wars flick since Disney restarted them I haven’t been head over heals for.  I thought they started strong with The Force Awakens and got stronger with Rogue One and The Last Jedi.  Solo missed the mark for me.

THE NON 2018 RELEASES.

This year I’ve gotten to see some awesome classics on the big screen.  John Wayne in True Grit  as well as Sunset Blvd, Space Jam, and the 80’s comedy Eating Raoul have been the highlights.

When the Lights Go Down, We're All the Same

What does a teen taking a fateful final swim in the ocean, two dogs who steal a kiss while sharing a bite of spaghetti, and an astronaut rediscovering the statue of liberty have in common?  They all share two things.  First is they’re all iconic moments from iconic movies.  The second is I believe its better to view these movies on the big screen.

The movie theater is a great source of many things.  Viewing movies on a big screen chiefly among them.  It’s a different experience to see an image projected on a massive screen with friends and strangers alike then it is to watch the same thing at home.  With the invention of digital projection and blu ray releases the argument for quality can be set aside.  Personally I prefer the quality of the big screen but that’s another point.  

While home video is enjoyable, part of what is missing is the magic.  The magic amplifies the emotion of watching the movie, almost like experiencing it.  Can you imagine how much more fate of Janet Leigh in Psycho is when it crosses on the big screen?  Or how much more exciting the anticipation is of Tim Curry’s introduction in The Rocky Horror Picture Show?  Yes those moments and thousands like them can be seen from the comfort of one’s couch but seeing them in a darkened auditorium with family, friends, and strangers and sound booming from all directions heightens the senses making the moment that much more enjoyable.

Also going to the movies connects everyone.  It doesn’t matter what your gender, age, religion, skin color, and sexual orientation happen to be.  For the run time of the movie, those watching it are drawn together for a common cause.  One’s gender, age, religion, skin color, and sexual orientation really shouldn’t matter, it’s what makes us human.  However during the course of the movie it really doesn’t matter.  From the second the lights go down till the second the end credits roll we’re all the same.  We are there to watch, no experience something together.  It doesn’t matter if you know the person sitting three seats over or not you both are sharing a common thread.

Of course I say going to the big screen is the way to watch a flick!  I’m always happy to have you join me for this experience.

Non traditional, Traditional Movie Habits

I’m sure we all have are own traditional movie viewing habits.  For example every year after, the week after Thanksgiving, I host a viewing of 1947’s Miracle on 34th St (my second favorite Christmas movie.)  I also tend to watch John Carpenter’s Halloween around October 31st and a Jason Voorhees usually makes its way across my television screen around the time the calendar states its Friday the 13th.

However I have other traditional movie viewings, outside of the holidays and fun calendar days.  

For the past few summer’s I have found myself enjoying Roger Corman’s cult classic Piranha, around the time the pool opens.  It’s a fun summer movie to watch after a swim.  

During the summer months I tend to put on Gravity and some disaster movie such as Volcano, The Day After Tomorrow, or San Andreas.  Also around the summer solstice I put on the summer blockbuster Mad Max Fury Road.  I figure the desert sun/heat in that movie is a great way to celebrate the longest day of the year.

When fall hits and football season starts I celebrate with a viewing of Silver Linings Playbook.  Though not a football fan I enjoy the rom com with all its quirks.

After new years I tend to watch Alien.  In fact this year I did so with a big screen viewing.  I enjoy the cold of space during the cold of winter.  

Speaking of cold if I’m stuck inside with snow I tend to watch some of the long movies such as Zero Dark Thirty or the David Lean epic Bridge over the River Kwia.  Also during the snow I watch the Jake Gyllenhaal thriller Nightcrawler.  I’m not sure why but I enjoy it.

When spring comes around I watch the Kevin Costner sports flick Draft Day.  It’s not the greatest movie but always fun to watch.  

What are you’re non traditional viewing habits during the year? Anything to celebrate back to school or the start of winter break?

Welcome to the Summer 2018!

The 2018 summer movie season has officially descended upon us.  It did so with a bang.  Avengers: Infinity War grossed $250 million dollars in its first weekend of release.  (Who just did a double take on that number?)  

A good friend of mine and I go to a late night show almost every Saturday night.  This is something we both enjoy and something I’ve come to treasure.  It should come as no surprise that this week we participated in this historic opening.

While not my favorite movies, I enjoy Superhero movies.  I enjoy event films more though and Marvel movies are definitely event movies.  I enjoy it more with a big crowd and when that crowd gets into the movie.  Saturday night over three hundred people attended the 10:40pm movie in IMAX.  The crowd roared when the film started and awed when the twists and turns happened.  That made it a lot of fun for me.

As for the movie itself, I enjoyed it.  My issue with the film is there were to many characters spread out over a bit to much plot.  With the scope of this franchise (twenty two movies over ten years with a variety of characters) this was to be expected.  In the end it’s not a big concern of mine.  Again I still enjoyed the film and look forward to seeing the next Avengers flick next year.

Looking a head over the next few months, there’s plenty I want to see this summer.  This summer looks like to have its usual amounts of franchise films.  Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Mission Impossible: Fallout lead my excitement.  Sicario was one of my favorite films of 2015 and its sequel is being released this summer.  Josh Brolin and Benico Del Toro are both returning to the thriller and I am eagerly awaiting its release.

There’s some comedies I want to see as well.  Both Book Club and Life of the Party will be released in May.  The ladder stars Melissa McCarthy, who I love.  Kate Mckinnon stars in the August release of The Spy Who Dumped Me.  I’m excited for it solely to see Kate Mckinnon.  I loved her in Ghostbusters and watch SNL just to see her.  The more I see the previews for Tag, the more I find how surprised I want to see it.

Of course I am excited to see The Incredibles 2.  I love Pixar and the first feature.  

Why wouldn’t I be excited for this one?

I’m looking forward to seeing Christopher Robin for nostalgia reasons.

Also there is a pair of documentaries I am really looking forward to seeing.  RBG and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? both intrigue me.  I love a good documentary.  

I haven’t seen the ads yet for The Meg but a film about a giant shark starring Jason Statham is going to be highly entertaining.

So there’s a lot to see to get me through the long days, short nights, and the heat until the preferable cool long nights of the fall and winter arrive.  

Hey let’s go to the movies!

Oscars 2018: The Awards and the Party

Over the weekend my annual Oscar party turned 15! What a bash it was!

We’re going to circle back to that thought.  Let’s start with the Oscars.  Overall I was pleased with the winners.  I was disappointed that Three Billboards Outside Ebbing MO lost best picture.  I was and still remain a huge fan of the movie.  I did enjoy The Shape of Water and if you are going to lose the best picture crown The Shape of Water is a fine movie to take that crown.

Even though The Shape of Water dominated the nominations with thirteen I enjoyed seeing multiple films win.  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing MO, the WW2 epic Dunkirk, the beautiful Coco, the excellent sequel Blade Runner 2049 all won multiple awards.  Even Get Out is an academy award winner.  I love that!  Lady Bird got shut out and I’m good with that.  I did not enjoy that movie and still don’t understand the love for it.  Someday someone will have to explain it to me.

Now on to the 15th anniversary of my annual bash.  I think everyone, I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.   I was pleased that so many people took home prizes.  I enjoyed watching the guests compete for the trivia games while figuring what films will win the Oscars and my prediction contests.  

There were 25 prizes awarded in all, one more then normal.  This year I got political and personal with the prizes.  Do I need to explain the political end of that statement? The personal end included a prize dedicated to my Grandma, who passed a few weeks after last years party.  In fact half a dozen dvd’s from her collection were sprinkled into the baskets.  I’m excited to say I’m glad those went to who they did.  

Overall I considered the party I success.  After all it takes about a year to put everything together.  Until next years party let’s go to the movies.

With the announcement of the Oscar winners please enjoy the Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda and 2017 @ the movies winners. The winner’s of each category are in red.  Worst film is the only worst category everything else is the best!

 SHOULDA/WOULDA/COULDA

PICTURE: Battle of the Sexes, Big Sick, Detroit, The Florida Project, I Tonya, Marhsall, Molly’s Game
ACTOR: Chadwick Boseman Marshall, Tom Hanks The Post, Hugh Jackman The Greatest Showman 

ACTRESS:Jessica Chastain Molly’s Game, Selma Hayek Beatriz at Dinner, Michelle Williams All the Money in the World

DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow Detroit, Martin McDonagh 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing MO, Steven Spielberg The Post

SUPP. ACTOR: Josh Brolin Only the Brave, John Boyega Detroit, Idris Elba Molly’s Game

SUPP. ACTRESS: Holly Hunter The Big Sick, Nicole Kidman Beguiled, Elizabeth Olsen Wind River

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Battle of the Sexes, Detroit, The Florida Project, I Tonya, Marshall, Post
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: All the Money in the World, The Beguiled, Last Flag Flying, Only the Brave, Wonderstruck

DOCUMENTARY:Buena Vista Social Club 2, Chasing Trane, Jane, Letters From Baghdad, Raising Bertie, Step

ANIMATED FEATURE: Cars 3, Despicable Me 3, Leap!, The Lego Batman Movie, Your Name

FOREIGN FILM: Battleship Island, Faces Places, Frantz, 13 Minutes, Your Name, Women’s Balcony

2017 @ THE MOVIES

WORST FILM:Beauty & the Beast, Ghost in the Shell, Mother, Mountain Between Us, A Quiet Passion

SEQUEL:Alien Covenant, Blade Runner 2049, Kingsman 2, Logan, Star Wars 8, Thor 3, War 4 the Planet of the Apes
DRAMA: Detroit, Dunkirk, LBJ, Marshall, Molly’s Game, Only the Brave, The Post, Roman J Israel Esq
COMEDY: Big Sick, Girls Night, Going in Style, Home Again, Logan Lucky, Snatched, The Trip 2 Spain
SCI-FI:Blade Runner 2049, Kong:Skull Island, Shape of Water, Star Wars 8, War 4 the Planet of the Apes
HORROR/THRILLER:Annabelle 2, Get Out, It Comes At Night, Split, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing MO, Wind River

ESPIONAGE MOVIE: American Assassin, American Made, The Foreigner, Kingsman 2, Mark Felt

INDY FILM:Crown Heights, Florida Project, It Comes At Night, Loving Vincent, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing MO

FAMILY FLICK:Coco, Greatest Showman, Goodbye Christopher Robin, Jumanji:Welcome 2 the Jungle

SOCIAL ISSUES MOVIE: Battle of the Sexes, Detroit, Florida Project, Get Out, Marshall, The Post, Viceroy’s House

POLITICAL FIGURE: Judi Dench Victoria & Abdul, Woody Harrelson LBJ, David Oyelowo A United Kingdom

ENSEMBLE:All The Money in the World, Big Sick, Detroit, Logan Lucky, Molly’s Game, Post, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing MO

FIGHT: Michael Fassbender v himself Alien Covenant, The fight for equal pay Battle of the Sexes, Matthew McConaughey v Idris Elba Dark Tower, Battle in Snoke’s Throne Room Star Wars 8, Gal Gadot in the WW1 battle Wonder Woman

HERO:Daisy Ridley Star Wars 8, Gal Gadot Wonder Woman, Hugh Jackman Logan, Andy Serkis War 4 the Planet of the Apes

SIDEKICK:Daniel Craig Logan Lucky, Josh Gad Marshall, Chris Pine Wonder Woman, Mark Strong Kingsman 2
VILLAIN:Cate Blanchett Thor 3, Michael Shannon Shape of Water, Woody Harrelson War 4 the Planet of the Apes

KISS: Michelle Williams/Hugh Jackman The Greatest Showman, Jennifer Connelly/Josh Brolin Only the Brave, David Oyelowo/Rosamund Pike A United Kingdom, Gal Gadot/Chris Pine Wonder Woman

VOICEOVER: Jessica Chastain Molly’s Game, Paul Newman Cars 3, Denzel Washington Chasing Trane

REAL LIFE PERSON: Chadwick Boseman Marshall, Tom Hanks The Post, Liam Neeson Mark Felt, Christopher Plummer All the Money in the World, Margo Robbie I Tonya, Emma Stone Battle of the Sexes

CAMEO: Helen Mirren Fate of the Furious, Adam West Lego Batman Movie,Yoda Star Wars 8,  Bruce Willis Split

LINE:”If you fail, keep failing till they’re throwing dirt on you” Magen Leavey, “The only way to get through a bigot’s door is to break it down” Marshall, “Welcome to a new world of gods & monsters” The Mummy 

CGI CHARACTER: Caesar War 4 the Planet of the Apes, Kong Kong:Skull Island,  Snoke Star Wars8
REVIVAL: Airplane, Blues Brothers, Double Indemnity, Elf, King & I, Once Upon a Time in the West, To Catch A Thief

A Night At Rick's

I have to confess something, that I don’t like confessing.  Lately my anxiety has been kicking my butt.  I don’t like admitting things like that.  Mainly I don’t like talking about my emotions.  (Always happy to listen, never will turn anyone away who needs a shoulder to cry on).  Please don’t worry about me though, I’ll be fine.  This thing tends to work itself out.  

This morning I was really feeling it.  I was excited to go to lunch and then work.  Mainly cause I got to hang out with some awesome people.  I knew the matinees would end and I’d be clocking out.  I didn’t want to come home, eat dinner, watch some TV, and turn out the lights.  Mainly being around people tends to help, strangers or not, it tends to help.  I was thought ahead this morning and purchased the last ticket to make the 7:15 Casablanca sell out.  Luckily it was for my favorite seat, front row on the edge, where the screen hovers above me.  I did this so I wouldn’t disturb anybody, in particular on Valentine’s Day.  That same reason could be why I purchased a ticket to Sunday’s matinee showing of The Wizard of Oz.  Not sure if I’ll need it or not but I like to have my options open.  

Boy am I glad I went to the movie tonight.  Casablanca is one of my favorites with a great ending.

250 people were there, with me, for the sell out.  I watched the crowd trickle in and noticed that outside of each individual group, everyone were strangers to one another.  During the next two hours there were no women, no men, no republicans, no democrats.  Race, age, and religion didn’t matter.  All the problems of the world were left outside.  Everyone was cheering as the events of the film unfolded.  When the order was given to “round up the usual suspects”, at the end of the movie, a standing ovation was given.  I’ve only seen that twice in my moviegoing years.  It felt really good to be part of that.  

I enjoy experiencing movies on the big screen.  I’d seen this one before but it has been almost a decade since.  I’ve watched the DVD in the interim.  There’s magic though in going to theater.  It’s the way movies need to be experienced.

I reinforce that this anxiety thing will work itself out, it has in the past, and will continue to do so.  I will continue to soldier through this.  In the meantime I end with my customary let’s watch a movie!

The Oscars!

Let’s blog Oscars! After all Oscar night is one of the biggest nights of my calendar year.  It’s bigger then the super bowl! Hell it’s bigger then Christmas!

First things first.  The obvious contenders.  Lady Bird scored five Oscar nominations and Greta Gerwig became the fifth woman nominated for best director.  I know there’s folks out there who loved this movie.  I’m not one of them.  Let me clarify, I enjoyed the film but did not love it.  I’m not a Greta Gerwig fan.  With rare exception I think she’s underperformed in mediocre movies.  Mistress America, Frances Ha, the Arthur remake are just a few.  I do think more women filmmakers need to be recognized in this category.  The fact that Gerwig is the first woman to be nominated for best director since Kathryn Bigelow won for the incredible movie The Hurt Locker, only proves my point.  That was almost a decade ago.  In fact Kathryn Bigelow directed an incredible movie this year: Detroit.  If you haven’t seen that one please do!

Moving on.  The other obvious contenders were the excellent Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, The Post, Dunkirk, and The Shape of Water.  All three films were well crafted, well acted, and most importantly told excellent stories.  All are excellent qualities in best picture nominees and an eventual winner.  

The two big surprises were the best picture nominations for Get Out and Phantom Thread.  I am a huge fan of Get Out.  I thought comedian Jordan Peele crafted a well thought out horror film.  The movie was released in late February, just before last years Oscars.  Clearly it left an incredible impression.  The last film horror film to contend for best picture also shared a February release date.  The movie: The Silence of the Lambs.  In fact it opened on valentine’s day.  

I enjoyed watching Phantom Thread.  I was really excited to see it because it re-teamed Daniel Day Lewis with Paul Thomas Anderson.  The duo first united for There Will be Blood, which remains one of my favorites.  Phantom Thread was well crafted and had a very Hitchcock undertone in the second half.  I do have to admit I was a bit bored with the movie at times.  It’s still a beautiful movie that should already have the costume design Oscar wrapped up.  

Two big snubs stand out for me in the best picture category.  The Big Sick and The Florida Project were both excellent movies that deserved to be recognized as best movies of 2018.  Both movies scored an individual nomination.  The Big Sick for its original screenplay and The Florida Project for Willem Dafoe’s excellent supporting performance.  I have a tough time spinning my head around best picture nominations for Lady Bird and Phantom Thread knowing these two incredible movies were snubbed.  

I look forward to seeing Jimmy Kimmell return to host.  He’s a safe and entertaining choice.  I do like when the Academy thinks outside the box and hires someone like Hugh Jackman to host. 

With all that said I’ll see y’all at the Oscars!