At the 96th Academy Awards, Diane Warren failed to win Best Original Song for the fifteenth time in fifteen tries. Shockingly, “The Fire Inside,” written for the movie about the guy who did not in fact come up with the idea for hot Cheetos, did not win. On the other hand, I’m willing to wager… Read More The Warren Index: Will They Win a Competitive Oscar Before Diane Warren?
The actor: Samuel L. Jackson The character: Neville Flynn The film: Snakes on a Plane The line: “Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!” Disappointment has to be a relatively common feeling for a moviegoer who primarily watches new releases. The best evidence I’ve got for this… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #18
Dir. Anthony and Joe Russo. Starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford I wasn’t going to talk about Three Days of the Condor, but a little poking around and it turns out that the people who wrote the movie wanted to talk about Three Days of the Condor, so let’s talk about Three Days of the Condor. At the… Read More Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Dir. Quentin Tarantino. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins Gilbert: Now, the local alchemist is killed in an explosion. And there, among his effects, a chorus of villagers discover a potion. Sullivan: Magic, no doubt. Gilbert: Indeed. Sullivan: I thought as much. Gilbert: The effect of this magic potion is to transform… Read More The Hateful Eight (2015)
Dir. Brad Bird. Starring Holly Hunter, Craig T. Nelson, Catherine Keener I never write about movies on their opening weekend, but because I am here…spoilers. Many spoilers. In the abstract, an Incredibles 2 seems as heinous as a Toy Story 4. Both The Incredibles and Toy Story 3 end, in my opinion, quite completely and… Read More The Incredibles 2 (2018)
The following is from my series of Oscar Best Picture rankings, as well as my strongly worded suggestions for what should have won from among the nominees. For an introduction to the project, click here. For a way to vote on some Oscar-related ideas, click here. If I’ve written a review on any of the… Read More Better than the Oscars: 80-76
You thought I’d keep doing this in fives! Ha! As if I wouldn’t drag this out! The following is part of an overview of the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films, from my perspective. For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: 10-8
The following is part of an overview of the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films, from my perspective. For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of more than 800 films which I considered for the top 450 and my eligibility qualifications, click here.… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: 15-11
The following is part of an overview of the top 100 American narrative fiction feature films, from my perspective. For an introduction to the project and an index of other entries in the series, click here. For a list of more than 800 films which I considered for the top 450 and my eligibility qualifications, click here.… Read More Better than AFI’s Top 100: 35-31
Dir. Spike Lee. Starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee Mission College, like any university, appears to be governed both practically and socially by a set of totally arcane rules, held by a small number of gatekeepers who seem not entirely sure how best to use those rules to benefit the college, their groups, or… Read More School Daze (1988)
Seeing Things Secondhand 