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Category: Movies

  • Amazon’s Encounter: A Road-Trip Movie About Aliens, PTSD, and Family

    A meteor lights up the night sky and crashes into Earth. Big bugs are multiplying in the forest. One is shown biting, burrowing, and exploding inside a human body. Malik Khan (Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal) wakes up in a motel room with bloodshot eyes and large insects loudly scurrying along the walls. The former…

  • tick, tick…BOOM! on Netflix: A Young Playwright’s Time Bomb

    Jonathan Larson wrote and composed the rock musical Rent in 1996. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize, Tony for Best Musical, and be one of the longest-running shows ever on Broadway (12 years). Larson died of an aneurysm the night before Rent opened Off-Broadway. tick, tick…Boom isn’t about Rent and doesn’t dwell on…

  • Ray Donovan: The Movie – The Series Gets Its “Shine a Light” Finale

    “It had to end…it had to stop.” Bridget Donovan sums up the saga of Ray Donovan, and particularly, the lifelong strife between Ray and his con-man father, Mickey. Ray Donovan: The Movie gives fans the conclusion to the series they were robbed of after Showtime unexpectedly canceled the show after the season seven finale. The…

  • Updated Post: Licorice Pizza – A Wholesome, Goofy Romp Through the SoCal 1970s

    Updated Post: Oops. Somehow, I deleted the music paragraph of this post before publishing it. Music is an important component of the movie, so if you’re interested check out the full post. Did you grow up in the 1970s? If so, Licorice Pizza could be for you. If you were raised in Southern California, particularly…

  • Hanna Delivers a Kickass Joyride Through CIA-Conspiracy Land

    A young girl growing up in the forest with her father who is training her to become an assassin. Their life is all about grooming Hanna to kill the CIA agent that is hunting her down. The training is all-consuming, focusing on intense physical fitness, memorizing reams of knowledge, and remaining emotionless and mentally steadfast…

  • Belfast: A Personal Coming-of-Age Story in a Troubling Time

    Soaring above modern-day Belfast in color turns into a black and white scene of an active working-class neighborhood with kids playing in the streets and Moms keeping watch and chattering with the neighbors. This tranquility is fleeting as the street transforms into a war zone with Protestants marching through throwing rocks, looting Catholic-owned stores, and…

  • King Richard: A Telling Look at the Man Behind the Williams Sisters

    The overbearing, obsessive father micromanaging the lives of his daughters, tennis superstar sisters Venus and Serena Williams. I wasn’t sure this story interested me when I first heard about it. I’m not a huge tennis fan, but as a devoted sports follower, I am well aware of their greatness. Serena is at GOAT status. But…

  • The Velvet Underground Doc is a Testament to Their Everlasting Influence

    Just four albums. Active only from 1965-1970. No hits. Yet, Velvet Underground is one of the most influential bands ever. Their mix of avant-garde and rock opened the minds of David Bowie, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Brian Eno, New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Joy Division, and many, many more. Todd Haynes is an…

  • No Time to Die: A Rousing and Emotional End to a James Bond Era

    No Time to Die finds 007 retired from MI6 and living in Jamaica. He is recruited by the CIA to find a kidnapped scientist which leads to a showdown with a powerful adversary. The plot revolves around Project Heracles; a bioweapon that is coded to an individual’s DNA and infects like a virus upon touch.…

  • The Many Saints of Newark: A Taste of Pre-Sopranos

    Saint: A person acknowledged as holy or virtuous (formal); kind and patient (informal).* There’s certainly not many saints by this definition in Newark, NJ. Rather, the main characters of The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of New Jersey are brutal, impulsive, and all in need of sensitivity training. One minute, Dickie Moltisanti, is charming and…

  • The Platform: Those with Weak Stomachs Should Not Partake

    Prisoners living in vertical cell blocks where the inmates above are fed while those below starve. How do they survive on the lower floors? The Platform is a 2019 Spanish Netflix film production taking place in the stark confines of the so-called “Vertical Self-Management Center.” Once a day, a smorgasbord of food descends through the…

  • Audrey and Natalie: Recent Docs on Two Hollywood Stars Who Left Us Too Soon

    Audrey Hepburn: Style Icon. Natalie Wood: Mysterious Death. Two recent documentaries remind us that these two women should not be primarily known for a little black dress and drowning off Catalina Island. Family members greatly informed both docs and archival footage and interviews bring them to life. Both films are part standard bio-doc fare, part…