MEDIA APPEARANCE: Included in Banana Meter's "Overlooked Spotlight: Part 4"

The newly-formed Rotten Tomatoes alternative Banana Meter has been gathering talented critics and hoping to make a social media splash. They’ve been timely and spirited with highlighting their members and getting their reviews out there. One of these frequent features is a collection of “Overlooked” reviews for less-than-big new releases. If I can get my work done early enough, I have the chance of my work and grade being selected for one of those hot-off-the-press features. It’s an honor to join friends and peers for such an inclusion. Here’s my highlight from Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Included in Banana Meter's "First Reactions" for "Thor: Love and Thunder"

The newly-formed Rotten Tomatoes alternative Banana Meter has been gathering talented critics and hoping to make a social media splash. They’ve been timely and spirited with highlighting their members and getting their reviews out there. One of these frequent features is a collection of “First Reactions” for big new releases. If I can get my work done early enough, I have the chance of my work and grade being selected for one of those hot-off-the-press features. It’s an honor to join friends and peers for such an inclusion. Here’s my highlight from Thor: Love and Thunder.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the Kicking the Seat's YouTube roundtable for "Spider-Man 3"

While I fully support my friend Ian Simmons’ year-long moratorium on “new” comic book films and TV shows, I like the chances he’s chosen to reflect on old titles for his Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel. Ian requested “Earth’s Mightiest Critics” to revisit the 15-year-old Spider-Man 3 from director Sam Raimi with fresh eyes and an open heart. I tried my best with a rewatch, but the movie only got worse for me. With many absentees from the usual crew, it ended up being Ian hosting Will Johnson and myself representing the Cinephile Hissy Fit podcast for this lovely conversation on all the emotions of success and failure that came from Spider-Man 3. Enjoy!

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GUEST EDITORIAL: Cybersecurity Lessons We Can Learn From Movies

by Adrian Johansen

Everyone loves a good hacker film. Your heart races when you see an actor's fingers flying across a keyboard, trying to break into a security system or crack some kind of code that will save the world — or perhaps launch a powerful weapon. Whether they’re doing it for good or evil, it’s exciting to watch. This explains the popularity of tech-centered media.

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How Does CBD Oil Make You Feel? A Quick Guide

CBD is a chemical compound found naturally in cannabis and hemp plants, and is not a mind-altering substance, unlike THC, which is a known mind-altering component of the plant. CBD and THC are two of many natural occurring cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant, along with CBC, CBG, as well as terpenes, flavonoids, and other compounds found throughout the plant. CBD, short for cannabidiol, is an entirely non-psychoactive, naturally occurring compound found in the marijuana plant. Cannabis contains about 150 cannabinoids; two of the main, and most widely used, cannabinoids are THC and CBD.

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Top Movies of 2022

Anne Elliot is a non-conforming woman living with her family on the verge of bankruptcy even not suspecting that she can play Hellspin Casino to make a fortune. When Frederick Wentworth, her former lover, returns, she must decide whether she should put the past behind her or listen to her heart. This is an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Nope

To put it more casually and in a way fitting the movie, horses say “nope” with fight-or-flight responses faster than and far before us humans. When Nope pushes your buttons and raises your pulse rate, follow what the horses do and you’ll fare well. Alas, we know humans behave differently and so does Jordan Peele. He knows man’s curiosity, perceived dominance, and other courage-warping temptations bend people to test survivability beyond their instinctual triggers until their own exit point or fatal failure.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Alone Together

The premise of Alone Together may suggest serendipity that is too easy. If this was Nancy Meyers, the threads of this movie would all end in laughs. Instead, the dramatic difficulties fleshed out by Katie Holmes and her cast prove otherwise. The direction and storytelling grace of Holmes’ results are very praiseworthy, especially during this continuing pandemic.

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MOVIE REVIEW: My Old School

Combining Cumming’s lifting presence, snippets of archival TV coverage, and the animated sequences, My Old School has beguiling charm mirroring the fascinating central figure and the wry smiles on the faces of the Bearsden alumni telling their yarns. Viewers will absorb this tall tale and ask how much fraudulence is either acceptable or too much in a true-life “fake it until you make it” story. There is an irreverent delight to be had measuring that scale person-to-person and case-by-case.

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