MOVIE REVIEW: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

To quote the well-worn expression used in many frank judgments of character, “I didn’t think he had it in him.” Be ready to color yourself surprised. Thanks to heightened stakes and those aforementioned honest themes, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish gallups beyond the flashy shell of a cash grab sequel opportunity for Dreamworks Animation. This valuable new journey massages and improves the mettle of this excellent character without losing a whisker of derring-do.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on the Kicking the Seat YouTube roundtable talking "Avatar: The Way of Water"

While not all of us on the dais look like Gloria Stuart who said, “It’s been 84 years…” in James Cameron’s Titanic, it has been a long 13 years since the 3D watershed of Avatar. Ian Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel gathered myself, David Fowlie of Keeping It Reel, Mark Krawczyk of Special Mark Productions, and Jeff York of The Establishing Shot to discuss the hotly anticipated sequel and holiday hitter Avatar: The Way of Water. We sure talked until a few of us were blue in the face (and tardy from technical difficulties as I was).

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on "Cinema Royale" Podcast talking "Babylon"

This week, I was honored to be invited as a guest on the Cinema Royale podcast presented by Punch Drunk Critics hosted by Travis Hopson. The Washington, D.C.-based film critic and site founder is a fellow member of the Critics Choice Association. I had the distinct pleasure to talk to Travis (on the road, so to speak, at my school library during a break period) about Damien Chazelle’s Babylon. Even in a quick conversation, we found the movie to be a bottomless pit of style and talking points.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Babylon

The audience’s constitution will be the deciding factor on Babylon’s wide gamut of pungent engagement and raging spectacle. This juxtaposition of the carefree and zany with the dirty and dark underneath can very easily be too much. Any twinkling enchantment is met with bracing hardness. Any gleaming art is met with harsh repulsiveness. Extend this blaring back-and-forth of lift and defeat for over three hours, and Babylon can be as exhausting and unfocused as it is impressive. Good luck coming down from that high or out of that fog.

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AWARDS: Nominees for the 2023 HCA Film Awards

Just as I reported last week as a member of the Hollywood Critics Association for their Creative Arts Awards, the organization announced their film award nominees on the morning of December 15th. The HCA, along with a trio of celebrity presenters, named the voted picks for the 2023 HCA Film Awards on the official HCA YouTube channel. The prestigious ceremony will be live-streamed on the same official channel and HCA App from the historic Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles on Friday, February 24th beginning at 6 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST. Comedian, Actor, Writer Tig Notaro will host the 2023 HCA Film Awards ceremony.

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Whale

Thanks to Chau’s protective involvement, there’s a rock-solid, heart-crushing version of The Whale that would be just these two and no one else. They have enough painful and resurfaced history for two movies. Instead, outside factors in Hunter’s screenplay and tonal choices from Aronofsky sully the potential of those good graces becoming their own simpler, standalone core. 

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AWARDS: Nominees for the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) announced today the film category nominees for the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards. The winners will be revealed at the star-studded Critics Choice Awards gala hosted by Chelsea Handler, which will broadcast LIVE on The CW from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Sunday, January 15, 2023. I am proud to be a CCA member and think the organization collectively selected stellar nominees.

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MEDIA APPEARANCE: Guest on "Manly Movies" Podcast talking "Casablanca"

Surfing among the fans and fellow creators of the Feelin’ Film podcast Facebook group, I’ve come to break internet bread with a gentleman by the name of J.B. Huffman. He’s a voracious movie fan who has a temperament for examining and celebrating all forms of masculinity. As a fellow father, those stories and archetypes grab him the most to the point where he decided to make a podcast series dedicated to the movies that hit us dads. Welcome to Manly Movies! Like all good men, he doesn’t do anything half-ass. I was honored to participate as J.B.’s guest to talk about Casablanca.

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Are You Ready For a Relationship?

There are many signs that you're ready to start a relationship. These can range from your willingness to compromise and commit to yourself to your partner's needs. It is also important to remember that a relationship is about giving up yourself for someone else. This can be difficult in the beginning, but over time, you'll find yourself ready for love.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Avatar: The Way of Water

Through all the technological spectacle he creates through unmatched skill and sheer hubris– especially in his triumphant return with Avatar: The Way of Water, three-time Oscar winner James Cameron does not get enough respect as one of the best cinematic storytellers for action and emotion the medium has ever seen. With an editor’s eye for precise measurement, Cameron has crafted some of the most elaborate, dazzling, and iconic action sequences for decades now. 

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