For 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.
Read MoreAs I have grown in press credentials and professional affiliations nationally, I have found myself landing in circles with other film critics of various levels. Recently, I was included in a poll with over 110 voting critics by Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel, a fellow Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. His survey tallying votes for our choices for the best Martin Scorsese films. He asked for our Top 3 and did the math from there. It’s an honor to be invited and included!
Read MoreI felt obligated to update an editorial list I made five years ago in 2012 of the best Irish-themed movies in time for celebrating St. Patrick's Day. It was due for a dusting with two new additions. For this list, I opened the field to either movies set in Ireland or those that feature notable Irish characters or stories outside of the Emerald Isle. That possibilities spanned movies both foreign and domestic. Pour the Guinness, heat the corned beef, and enjoy my list of the 10 best Irish-themed movies!
Read MoreBut all of those lofty intentions will not be automatically transcendent for everyone. Let me say it like this as delicately as I can. The level of your Christian faith, or lack thereof, will formulate your reaction, appreciation, or acceptance of “Silence.” It is an agonizing personal test for an audience, just the same as it is for the characters on screen. This will either be a soul-rattling testament or maddening torture.
Read MoreYou know the "Goodfellas" tropes: excessive narration, ordinary people getting rich or powerful doing extraordinary and often illegal activities played by colorful actors or actresses, dramatic license spinning a likely lesser true story, a kicking period soundtrack, pervasive drug use, freeze-frame shots to stamp moments, and a tidy epilogue of comeuppance. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is also lazily standing on the shoulders of giants. That’s the impact and existence of Todd Phillips’s “War Dogs” in a gun… err… nutshell.
Read MorePicture your personal influences, either worshiped or admired, and imagine being granted the opportunity to have a conversation with them. What would you talk about? What would you ask them? How would it change you? In the world of cinema, such a conversation happened between a then-neophyte auteur Francois Truffaut and the aging master Alfred Hitchock in 1962. Their documented meeting has gone on to inspire generations of future filmmakers and cinephiles.
Read MoreIt's time to make my formal predictions. In this fourth post, we are starting to get to the major award categories. Here are my picks for the two screenplay awards and Best Director. Let's go! Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool.
Read More
