poptransmission

Category: Movies

  • Air: An Entertaining, Even Suspenseful Movie About a Shoe

    It’s 1984 in Beaverton, OR, and running shoe titan Nike is on the verge of shutting down its basketball shoe division. Sales of Nike’s shoes for hoops are getting crushed by Converse and Adidas. The upcoming NBA draft is the event of the year to lock in new talent. Michael Jordan is considered off-limits; he’ll…

  • Personality Crisis: A Fitting Title for the David Johansen Documentary

    Showtime does it again. Another captivating rockumentary by the network that has recently brought us the stories of Sinead O’Connor, Sheryl Crow, the Go-Go’s, the early aughts NYC scene, and New Order. It’s an imaginative film apropos for its subject, the musical iconoclast David Johansen. The inventiveness of the approach has much to do with…

  • Movies That Blew Us Away: The Top Ten Twists

    One of the finest parts of the film experience is the well-executed, didn’t-see-it-coming plot twist. Many memorable twists occur in a movie’s final scenes to maximize the impact of the reveal. Good twists are a surprise at the time, but upon further reflection, or watching the movie again, are often hiding in plain sight. I…

  • Oscar 2023 Predictions: Will Everything Everywhere All at Once Carry the Night?

    In my previous posts on the Oscars, I’ve discussed the dismal ratings for the ceremony and the ongoing attempts by the Academy to improve them. Let’s not worry about all that this time. The Best Picture nominations this year run from blockbusters (Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water) to critical favorites that…

  • The 95th Academy Awards: No Slaps or Big Surprises, Lots of Tears

    After sweeping the Directors, Producers, and Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as the Golden Globes and Spirit Awards, Everything Everywhere All at Once was a shoo-in for Best Picture. Nominated in eleven categories, it won seven, including Director, Actress, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, and Editing. All Quiet on the Western Front had…

  • Emily the Criminal: Aubrey Plaza’s Bleak Battle with Debt and Employment

    Emily is $70,000 in debt with college loans. Each time a job looks promising, the background check with her felony conviction, crushes her chances. She struggles at a Door Dash-like job. She storms out of an interview for an assistant designer position after it turns out to be an unpaid internship. A fellow food deliverer…

  • Meet Me in the Bathroom Review: The NY Rock Scene of the Early Aughts

    Meet Me in the Bathroom is a documentary film directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, based upon the book of the same name by Lizzy Goodman, and the name of a Strokes song from their 2003 album, Room on Fire. So, it’s no surprise that The Strokes are the headliner of this ode to…

  • The Fabelmans: Spielberg Tells Us How a Train Wreck Started It All

    It’s 1952 and eight-year-old Sammy Fabelman is heading to the big, dark movie theater with his parents. Cecil B Demille’s circus spectacle, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” is on the marquee. Sammy is mesmerized throughout the movie, but it’s the pile-up train crash done with miniatures that forever opens his eyes wide open. He asks…

  • Moonage Daydream Review: A Chaotic Collage of Bowie’s Sound and Vision

    The documentary film, Moonage Daydream, begins with a Nietzche quote, followed by Bowie’s voice, then images of the moon. It’s a telling intro to the musical/visual mash-up that awaits you. You may find it a frustrating audio-visual sensory overload. Or a mesmerizing sound and vision experience. I land somewhere in the middle. I found the…

  • Jessica Chastain: What’s the Versatile Actress Been Up to Lately?

    An Oscar for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Nominated for The Help and Zero Dark Thirty. Lead roles in Miss Sloane, Molly’s Game, A Most Violent Year, Interstellar, It: Chapter Two, and The Martian. What do they all have in common? Jessica Chastain. Versatile indeed, a wide range of roles portraying strong, flawed women often…

  • Academy of Motion Pictures Museum: Finally, a Shrine for Movies

    First, my October 7, 2022 weekend trip to L.A. celebrated a 100th anniversary (see previous post New Order & Pet Shop Boys: A Hollywood Bowl Synthsation) and then the next day a one-year birthday for what will become another L.A. cultural institution. After years of dreaming and planning, the Academy of Motion Pictures Museum opened…

  • Elvis Movie Review: Austin Butler is Sensational, Tom Hanks Not So Much

    Never thought I’d rave about a relative unknown actor while questioning Tom Hanks’ performance. But that’s the undeniable conclusion after seeing Elvis; Baz Luhrmann’s (The Great Gatsby, Moulin Rouge) glitzy, amped-up rock biopic. Butler is a tour de force as Elvis, particularly in his gyrating heyday. There’s a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on and the…