Posts in 2017
OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2017: The male acting awards

In this sixth post, we look at the races for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.  Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool!

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OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2017: The female acting awards

n this fifth post, we look at the races for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.  Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool!

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OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2017: The writing and directing awards

In this fourth post, we look at the writing and directing awards covering Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Adapted Screenplay.  Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool!

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OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2017: The visual and artistic categories

In this third post, we look at the visual and artistic categories which include Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hair-Styling.  Stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool!

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OSCAR PREDICTIONS 2017: The minor film categories

In this second post, we look at the obscure minor film categories that include foreign films, documentaries, animated films, and short films.  Get the dartboard out, but stick with me and I will win you your Oscar pool!

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ADVANCE MOVIE REVIEW: Logan

With stunning brush strokes soaked in pathos and blood, "Logan" taps into a cask of comic book scotch that been reserved to reach maturity.  This is, by a country mile, not only the best film of the “X-Men” franchise, but the best of 20th Century Fox’s entire catalog of Marvel Films.  Presented as an analogy, “Logan” is to comic book films what “Unforgiven” was to westerns.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on "The Harvey and Bob Show" podcast from LodgeCon 2017

I had the pleasure to be joined by the team of John Robinson and El'Ahrai Stanek of The Harvey and Bob Show podcast and LodgeCon 2017.  We hosted a panel on genre and fantasy films together. Afterwards, El'Ahrai and John live-recorded their weekly podcast from the event and I was privileged to be a guest participant.

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Great Wall

"The Great Wall" is an imposing creature feature that stands as a three-headed glamour project.  You have an A-list star venturing overseas for international credibility and a splashy director landing his official English-language debut.  Aiming higher in aspiration is a production company hoping to open a new and profitable pipeline of investment between Hollywood and China.  Visually splendid from top to bottom, this epic adventure squeaks by on its looks and spares no expense to make sure of that.

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MOVIE REVIEW: The LEGO Batman Movie

Chock full of more jokes, puns, and references than there are virtual plastic bricks, “The LEGO Batman Movie” is a breezy blast of unabashed fun.  Twirling with dazzling animation and saturated with endless character possibilities, these two hours of zippy entertainment offer exhilarating playful engagement for young audiences and many absolute belly laughs for the adults.  Like “The LEGO Movie” before it, the biggest flaw will always be the manic pace.

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CAPSULE REVIEWS: The Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short

This year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Short are an eclectic bunch.  One of them, “Borrowed Time,” I have previously reviewed in full on this website.  Here are my collected capsule reviews of the slate of five, complete with my signature life lessons.  Look for the theaters this month bundling these nominees together for public viewing and ticket opportunities.

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GUEST CRITIC #20: John Wick: Chapter 2

Shameful as this sounds, I have not seen the first "John Wick" and I was not a place to catchup before "John Wick: Chapter 2." Meet Emmanuel Noisette of Eman's Movie Reviews.  He is an emerging film critic tackling both written and video reviews.  His YouTube channel is must-watch and automatic subscribe material.  Emmanuel is a colleague of man with the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle (CIFCC).  Eman is a big fan of the first and the second one impressed him greatly.

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DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: I Am Not Your Negro

The documentary “I Am Not Your Negro” from director Raoul Peck unearths “Remember This House,” an unfinished 1979 manuscript of the James Baldwin’s recollections of Medgar, Malcolm, and Martin.  This outstanding and informative film presents Baldwin’s musings alongside sobering imagery of both the turbulent history of the era and parallel occurrences of modern racial unrest that echo the same violence, inequality, anger, and sorrow.  As an Oscar nominee in a banner year for feature documentaries, “I Am Your Negro” is essential viewing.

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