Film critics are often parents too and, sometimes, one of the perks of the position is being about to bring your children as your guests to an advanced screening. Recently, Ian Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel and I were two film critic parents of many who brought our kiddos for the viewing privilege and bragging rights of seeing the new sequel Trolls Band Together earlier. While our sons did not join the conversation as the “target demographic,” Ian and I had plenty to celebrate and compliment!
Read MoreThe newly rebranded Hollywood Creative Alliance continues to assemble a series of “Gradebooks” collecting early reviews and grades from their critics on popular releases. When I can get more work completed and a review submitted early enough, my take and connected quotes have the chance to make these shout-out posts. My newest was being included for Killers of the Flower Moon. Check out your boy!
Read MoreRecently, I was invited by Ian Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel to join a group conversation on Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Being one of the few critics giving the film a “Rotten” negative review on Rotten Tomatoes, I figured I would be bringing the piss and smoke to drop the would-be masterpiece down a few rungs. As it turns out, I wasn’t alone on the panel when it came to stern critiques on the movie
Read MoreFor their 131st episode, two reunited critics, two non-poisonous dads, and two stalwart teachers, Will Johnson and Don Shanahan, are back together after few episodes away with guest hosts. They return with a vengeance to breakdown and even takedown the earmarked savior of cinema known as Killers of the Flower Moon from director Martin Scorsese. The guys really go deep into the film and the grander picture of cinema criticism. This is a double-length doozy of an episode!
Read MoreFor better or worse, that’s a microcosm of the entirety of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. As helpful as Robertson’s plucked metronome is to fill voids and create a foreboding cinematic heartbeat, your own pulse rate ends up matching that placidness. No matter what heinous deception, jarring murder, or well-appointed finery appears on screen, very little in the film intensifies or accelerates beyond that methodical drowning dirge.
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