One good turn deserves another, and from yesterday’s Coco to today’s Cars 3, there’s much to find in every Pixar movie. A revisit proves that the underlying story and emotion holds up—enough. McQueen’s decline and Cruz’s rise are unbalanced, and many middle scenes … Continue reading CARS 3
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s place in history is secure; it’s her story that seems to be in question. To borrow a line from the Bard: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” And while Bader Ginsburg is those last two wrapped into one, a recent obsession with the U.S. Supreme Court justice has ignored the latter in interest to commodifying the former. As a justice, Bader Ginsburg is impeachable; as a person of conviction, she is an inspiration. But a subject of inspiration does not an inspirational movie make. How odd that 2018 … Continue reading ON THE BASIS OF SEX
As 2017 comes to a close, the movie prestige season kicks into high gear with three of the year’s best finally making their way to movie theaters. Reviews of Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water, and Darkest Hour. Over at … Continue reading Weekly Round-Up (12.7.17 – 12.28.17)
The Lone Ranger, the tale of how John Reid (Armie Hammer) became The Ranger, is told to a young kid (Mason Elston Cook) by an elderly Tonto (Johnny Depp). Tonto plays fast and loose with perspective, apparently having intimate knowledge of many scenes that he did not witness first hand, but let’s no get hung up on those details, this is a summer blockbuster, and those things don’t matter. After all, this is a Comanche character being played by a white actor in face paint. If you can accept that, then the rest of the movie shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me – It takes balls to call your band “Big Star” and even bigger balls to call your first album “#1 Record” but that was the way of Big Star. Quite possibly the most influential band you’ve never heard of, they released three albums in the 70s, received a lot of acclaim, but disappeared back into the ether. A decade and change later, they were rediscovered when alternative bands credited Big Star as a huge influence on them. If you like the music of The Replacements, R.E.M., and Oasis, then you will probably dig Big … Continue reading Movie Beat – 07.03.13
