Welcome to the polarizing gamut of engagement, acceptance, and disquiet of A Ghost Story. This is a wholly original film that takes preparation, patience, absorption, and reflection that some, or even many, may not be ready for. Presented in the rounded and claustrophobic corners of a centered 1.33:1 aspect ratio, it is safe to say, you will see nothing like this all year and maybe several more.
Read MoreIt's time to call the prequel trilogy of Planet of the Apes one of the best movie trilogies of all-time. It's time to give serious Oscar consideration to Andy Serkis as Caeser. It's time to see what is, so far, the best film of 2017. Hear those thoughts and more in my "Movie Classroom" interactive whiteboard video review for War for the Planet of the Apes as it appears published on the Every Movie Has a Lesson YouTube channel. See this film immediately.
Read MoreSpider-Man: Homecoming, starring Tom Holland as a true and proper teenage Spider-Man/Peter Parker, is a welcome and refreshing clean slate for the character. It's too bad it took three franchise attempts to get here. Filled to the brim with both easter eggs, supporting characters, swell touches of character, and zesty heart, this is the Spider-Man film you've always hoped for. Enjoy my full spoken review layered with an interactive whiteboard lesson for the latest "Movie Classroom" video review on this website's YouTube channel:
Read MoreEdgar Wright's new film Baby Driver falls in the category of sub-genre of action films that I like to call "kinetic films." Hear that genre definition, how Baby Driver fits the bill as ideal summer entertainment and more as I present the spoken form of my full review of the film accompanied by an interactive whiteboard lesson via the ShowMe app. Enjoy the latest video review in my "Movie Classroom" series on this website's YouTube channel:
Read MoreSofia Coppola's film may have been lauded at the Cannes Film Festival, but The Beguiled was a bit of a miss for me, despite its rich aesthetics. Here my full review, complete with new intro music and title card, and watch an interactive whiteboard lesson of notes and fun created by the ShowMe app for iPad over on my YouTube channel and "Movie Classroom" series.
Read MoreFeelin' Film host Aaron White and I hashed out our thoughts on Sofia Coppola's The Beguiled, debuting this weekend in theaters after wowing the Cannes Film Festival last month. It hit Aaron more than it hit me, but this counts as a wickedly entertaining remake from Coppola. We try to inform you so you can decide whether this seductively complex, yet simple, film is one for you.
Read MoreSpider-Man: Homecoming counts as a clean slate for Peter Parker’s web-slinger. Now nestled into the established Marvel Cinematic Universe, Tom Holland is a true teenage Spider-Man, one that was never successfully conveyed by two previous franchises and their over-aged actors. Aiming to please and bursting with effervescent zest at every flip, swing, and turn, John Watts’ Spider-Man: Homecoming succeeds as a brand new jumping off point for a character that badly needed course correction.
Read MoreA significant shift in attention and investment has occurred in this series. Our hearts and allegiances swayed from rooting for the madness of our own mankind to the superior traits of humanity exhibited by Caesar and his ape brethren. A transformation of empathy like that is downright miraculous. War for the Planet of Apes is a full-bodied epic of glory and pain that matches and then exceeds the moving importance and heart this rebooted franchise has established in two previous knockout films.
Read MoreThe films of Edgar Wright pulse with a signature flair for visual comedy built on wildly imaginative stylings in the areas of music, framing, camera movement, sound effects, and editing. His creative trickery wins for looks, but it also constantly advances the storytelling at hand. For that and so much more, Baby Driver is first-rate example of a kinetic film and joins the top ranks of Wright’s filmography.
Read MoreThe transitive verb “beguile,” as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means “to engage the interest of” or “lead by deception.” Hoodwink and divert are synonyms. Director Sofia Coppola’s remake of The Beguiled means to charm our corsets and britches off right in line with its title’s root definition. Methodically and dastardly, the film wishes to seduce us with a heightened intrigue of challenged sexual repression.
Read MoreLost in Paris is an exceedingly charming ditty of a comedy from the writing, directing, and starring duo of Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon. Three overlapping character-coded chapters follow a wayward character’s pratfalls and screwups through the course of their fateful intersections. Lost in Paris weaves its yarn with clever panache. It’s a surreal jaunt that juggles the cheekily uncouth with the innocently sweet inside its ever-present sense of whimsy.
Read MoreScheduled months ago after starting to write my regular weekly column with them, the hosts of the "Feelin' Film" podcast, Aaron White and Patrick Hicks, kindly asked me to guest on a future full-length podcast episode. The film was Phil Alden Robinson's 1989 keeper (check that: classic) Field of Dreams. As fate would have it, the viewing and the show fell on Father's Day week. Father’s Day and baseball go together like Heaven and Iowa.
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