The good storytellers at Pixar take all the possible cringeworthy “red” jokes and mask them through creatively conceived metaphors that soften the obligatory embarrassment with heart, humor, and courage. After all, to the Chinese culture on display in Turning Red, the potentially frightening shade of crimson counts as a lucky color of vitality, success, and happiness. Leave it to the ever-reliable Pixar to swim freely within that intrinsic good fortune as they so often do.
Read MoreThis past year, I was invited to join the new international group of the Celebrity Film Awards. Founded by Walter Nicoletti, this fine group completed their first awards cycle announcing their winners in a streaming YouTube presentation. I was among the enlisted award presenters. The video package is excellent and I’m both proud and excited to represent Walter’s organization. Enjoy!
Read MoreWhile Family Squares is respectfully dedicated to all those who have lost someone during this awful pandemic, Laing’s movie allows us some much-needed, profanity-laced laughs. Playing out a dramedy fitting and formed by our current plight, the movie can be seen as a future time capsule for our shared mini-era. Not all the tangents work or are worthwhile, but the salute to collective solidarity is there.
Read MoreCharlie Day and Jenny Slate are both very calibrated when it comes to self-deprecating humor. He has his plucky fluster and she has her Debbie Downer magnetism and their mutual resumes before this movie are full of that specialty. When they’re together, the two best actors and characters are bouncing emotions off each other. Their comedic cadences click for their future foregone conclusion of “will they” or “won’t they.”
Read MoreMinamata reminds us what Johnny Depp’s charisma can do outside of his fantasy wheelhouse and Tim Burton security blanket. Pushing through aging makeup, a potty mouth, and other curmudgeon behavior, Depp channels a unique and dour bluntness as W. Eugene Smith. True to the usual inspirational movie path, the heart of this dire story helps reduce the quirk factors and allows the actor to pleasantly play something straight and affecting.
Read MoreBased on the graphic novel and webcomic of Bob Crosby, Marry Me is a kinetic collection of romantic, comedic, and musical moments that amount to more than enough appeal to create a pleasant journey and viewing experience. Honestly, that’s all it needs to be to succeed. Still, its looseness is bound by its limitations of being mere moments and not something a step or two more lingering.
Read MoreBy channeling its abundantly unique story down a futuristic path, Swan Song also embraces the realm of potential science fiction. Moored by an immensely complex performance from two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali, the crux of Cleary’s debut feature film oscillates on a virtuous decision amplified by the reach of technology not yet viable today. The drama may be all-inclusive with its existential dread, but the choices and implications considered and then enacted are strenuous yet sublime.
Read MoreBy Lewis Robinson
Disney Plus is constantly adding new movies to its streaming service. One hidden gem that is sure to spark nostalgia for some is the Disney original Snow Dogs, which first came out in 2002. Since it's been so long since the movie was released, let's take a look at some of what made it such a memorable classic in the first place.
Read MoreBetter than that academic boost, you will find a zealous movie that stands with decisiveness as one of the finest films of the year. The Tragedy of Macbeth seizes that prominence with precisely those two aforementioned traits: an inspired look and fire within the performers. There is no shortness of acting brilliance or production value perfection in every corner and millisecond of this picture.
Read MoreGeorge Clooney’s The Tender Bar has, above everything else, a crucial mentor character that wins over the entire film with everything he does. When regular dads are absent or inadequate, father-figures are incredibly important for an malleable kid. We’ve seen plenty of them in movies before, but Ben Affleck’s Charlie character feels more spot-on and special than usual. When he’s there putting an arm around a shoulder or mixing a martini, you’ll either wish for or recall your own Uncle Charlie from your life.
Read MoreRaising his stakes and his luridness considerably from dueling TV anchors, a housing crisis, and a maligned former Vice President, Adam McKay aims a comet at the entire planet ready to burn everything man, woman, child, Twitter handle, and political label to the ground. To both its credit and its eventual detriment, McKay’s Netflix entry sets out to push as many buttons as possible until one or more trigger the wrong responses to make one feel icky, offended, or, worse, seen.
Read MoreWhy Money Heist is a top TV series in the world? it is due in part to its improvisational nature. The show is about three women in need of a cash injection. Christina Hendricks, Mae Whitman, and Retta from Parks and Recall have their unique characters, and they hatch a plan to steal cash from a local grocery store. The trio is thwarted by a serious gang who want the same payday.
Read More
