Posts in 2020
GUEST COLUMN: The Worst of Navy SEAL War Movies

by John M. Caviness

Everyone knows what a Navy SEAL is. These secretive commandos are so uniquely popular in our American culture that they've become like celebrities. Whether it's jumping into an NFL football game, or having characters based on them in the latest video games, SEALs are assumed by Americans the country over to be the best of the Special Forces community. And because they are so very popular, they've popped up in many films, especially within the last two decades. Not all of these films though obtain the quality of character that is required of SEALs themselves. Here are the worst.

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GUEST COLUMN: Top Most Influential Action Films

by Diane H. Wong

There are thousands of inconsequential action films: Uninspired, rote, and derivative of everything that has come before. Who remembers 1992's Freejack starring Emilio Estevez and Mick Jagger? Or Costner in 2014's 3 Days to a Kill? These are films that are forgotten almost as quickly as they're released for the simple reason that they are just photocopy templates of much better action films. And then there are the tentpole pictures, the influential action films, the ones that decades later, everyone still remembers, the films that have earned a place in our cultural collective. These are the films that inspire all the many other thousands of copycat films.

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GUEST COLUMN: Top Time Travel Movies

by Hannah Butler

The ability to move back and forth in time has long fascinated writers and filmmakers. H. G. Wells popularized the idea in 1895 with his novel The Time Machine, which has had multiple film and TV adaptations. Since then the notion of traveling through time – whether through deliberate choice or bizarre accident – has been a popular theme in movies. Here are the ones that will likely survive the test of time.

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GUEST COLUMN: Best and Worst Criminal Investigation War Movies

by William S. Andrews

Criminal investigations in the military are a bit different than in the civilian world. There are consequences to speaking as a witness when half the community's population outranks you. Plus, it's a community filled with people who kill for a living. Consequently, criminal investigations that take place in the military can be very thrilling and vastly entertaining to watch on film. Or, depending on the filmmaker, they can also be really painful. Here are the best and the worst criminal investigation war movies.

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GUEST EDITORIAL: The Top 5 Plot Holes in "Teminator Genisys"

by Richard L. Woodard

What was once great love I felt for the Terminator franchise has turned into hate, most especially after seeing Terminator Genisys. Prior to seeing the film, I wrote an article attempting to explain the increasingly convoluted chronology, as well as an article detailing the plot holes in the franchise thus far. Then after watching the film, which was horrible, I realize both that the chronology is completely destroyed and I have to write this article just to focus on the plot holes in this one film! Arnold Schwarzenegger, if you ever make another Terminator film, a pox on your house!

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GUEST COLUMN: The Greatest Holiday Films to Watch Together with Someone Special

by Rebecca Shinn

There is nothing like enjoying a cozy night of holiday movies with someone you cherish. During the lockdown, it is a very welcome choice indeed. Staying in and having a safe but entertaining time is all the more important nowadays. We will give you a list of the most loved holiday movies so you won't run out of great options to watch.

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GUEST CRITIC #48: The Green Mile

by Lafronda Stumn

As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the "You'll Probably Agree" YouTube channel talking the future for movie theaters

Back in May, I joined Mike Crowley’s You’ll Probably Agree podcast with Ian Simmons of Kicking the Seat and Pat McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com in discussing the state of movie theaters knee deep during this pandemic. Things looked brighter then. Now, six months later, with a spiking virus, streaming business moves, and conpanies closing or circling bankrupcies? Not so much. The four of us took to Mike’s YouTube channel recently to ponder the uncertain future. Enjoy this spirited conversation! I’m sure we’ll be doing it again soon.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Black Bear

Much to her flexible power for sardonic comedy or reckless abandon, actress Aubrey Plaza has a look. It’s not entirely a scowl. It’s not entirely a cynical grin. Deeming it a case of “resting bitch face” would be a dismissal to grander notions going on behind those eyes and curved lips. No, it’s more than that. It feels like all of the possible come-hither coyness mixed with all of the possible perilous threat her presence can express. She’s a puzzle, and it’s quite alright to love that about her.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Wander

What folks are going to find with the escalating thriller Wander is a screwy little movie saved by committed performances. The trouble comes when the committed performance comes from the character that should be (and ends up) committed in the clinical sense. Be ready to question everything in Wander because the audience lens and main character is a rooting-tooting conspiracy theorist, yarn-and-tape boards with newspaper clippings and all, who makes his scratch as a private investigator. The unreliable narrator energy is strong, but that’s the entertainment when you make it to the finish.

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MOVIE REVIEW: All My Life

This look and moment, which gets reminisced later as part of wedding vows, is the beginning of a very light and lovely shared journey in All My Life. From this opener onward, the two stars have each other, and us, hooked. Based on a touching true story of temporary time impeding on a forever kind of love, this approachable and endearing romance stockpiles the smiles to brighten all the trials and tribulations that follow.

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GUEST EDITORIAL: Cinema Experience in the Time of COVID

by Lewis Robinson

As the pandemic has absolutely ravaged the movie industry, leaving it in tatters. It is now up to us, the consumers and movie-goers, to create a similarly satisfying experience in our homes. Even if the theaters were still open, it would arguably be grossly irresponsible to ignore the dangers of the pandemic and potentially spreading it around; alas, we are left to our own devices. With theater chains like Regal Cinemas and AMC closing down their theaters across the country, and in some cases for good, it seems to be the end of an era. No longer will we be able to enjoy a delicious batch of fresh movie popcorn. No longer can watch plots unfold with unexpected twists and turns on enormous screens providing a crystal clear picture quality with audio so clear and so loud that it would shake the very foundation of the seats in which we sat

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