Author Archive
Film Review – Coco
It’s a careful balancing act, making a movie that both celebrates a heritage in an entertaining fashion and yet doesn’t trivialize that same culture. It’s an especially tricky balance when creating an animated kid’s movie which usually trade in generalities or quickly referenced stereotypes. Representation…
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Film Review – Thank You For Your Service
American films have a long history of attempting to deal with the fallout of war on the soldier’s psyche after they return to the States. Most every war seems to have it’s own defining film or set of films which spring to mind when portraying…
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Film Review – Marshall
Thurgood Marshall is one of those treasured rare figures in American history that is both revered and genuinely noble. He was a giant of the Jurice Prudence system known during his career as a lawyer as a defender of the downtrodden. The biggest highlight of…
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Film Review – Victoria & Abdul
Queen Victoria was one of the most recognizable and influential of the British Monarchs. Until very recently she had the longest reign of all of England’s royalty. And as a figure in popular culture she is likely amongst the top mental images we all have…
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Film Review – The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Old school action movie fun. We don’t get that many stereotypical buddy cop movies anymore. It’s a genre that dominated the 1980’s and 1990’s to the point that every cliche had been completely wrung out of it. Noting that the Lethal Weapon franchise was probably…
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Film Review – Cars 3
For a long time Pixar had an unimpeachable record. Can you think of a company of any kind, not just a movie company but any company, that had a track record as impressive as theirs for their first dozen years or so? The Toy Story…
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Film Review – The Mummy (2017)
Ugh. Maybe it’s because The Mummy is the least interesting of all of the classic movie monsters. Dracula is seductive and a metaphor for pent up sexuality. The Wolf Man is a tragic figure who often elicits sympathy as much as scares. Frankenstein is a…
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Film Review – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
14 years ago Disney released what I will definitively name the best movie in an incredibly specific and narrow genre. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is the best movie based on an amusement park ride. There were many factors in…
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