WandaVision: Episode 3 (Spoilers)
January 25, 2021
January 25, 2021
January 23, 2021
January 21, 2021
Seven months ago, I offered a list of planned theatrical releases that were “untouchable.” There were eighteen 2020 titles. I didn’t project into 2021. Tenet and Mulan were theatrical release experiments back in September. WarnerMedia released Wonder Woman 1984 day-n-date domestically and internationally in theaters… and after a month, they’ve done $143 million worldwide. Their […]
January 18, 2021
I watched the first three episodes of WandaVision that were provided to the media… with modest interest. The buzz was super-hot. The internet, as it sometimes does, so oversaturated the web with anticipation that the actual show seemed anticlimactic. Still, when the content became available, I jumped on it, not because I wanted to see […]
January 14, 2021
It’s almost over. It hasn’t even begun. That is the story of this *Oscar season. Netflix seems to have blown off the extended Oscar calendar. They are already all-in. They have a couple more movies that will go public this month and next… but media and Academy voters have access to everything now. Nomadland has […]
January 12, 2021
I pondered this for years, especially as YouTube and blogging were first happening. In this business called show, what is the difference between being a pro and being an amateur? My answer: Intention. And by intention, I don’t mean goals for a desired outcome. I mean the intention in doing the work. Amateurs become pros. […]
December 28, 2020
I don’t want to review Wonder Woman 1984. Honestly, it would force me to think about the film too much. Oh… that terrible CGI. Oh… the complete illogic of the mall sequence. Oh… why does the Latino with the preacher wig and the blonde without lines and a fear of carbs have an Asian child? […]
December 24, 2020
You’ve seen stories on resetting the brain. The brain gets stuck on an idea or image or perception and the only way to reset? A serious shock to the system. Seems dangerous. The study of this phenomenon has continued in people who get these shocks randomly and see change. In recent years, more controlled electroshock, […]
December 18, 2020
Writing this feels a bit like whistling past the graveyard, but as we move inside 20 weeks to the award show formerly known as Oscar, intensity is picking up. We are a long way from the Academy membership settling into this season. Lots of complaining about the content on the Academy app, which suggests that […]
December 4, 2020
I realize that most of my thinking on what may be a very significant moment ended up in tweets. so I gathered them for a more complete picture. 12/3/20 11:10amJason Kilar will be out of his job by 2022. Waiting on NATO response. But here we go… WB passes Universal as most experimental. Netflix, which […]
December 3, 2020
There are only five studios left. Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. Paramount is as shaky as Don Knotts. Sony is stable, but lacks a clear vision for the future. And now the tie-breaker between the high (Disney and Universal) and the low, Warner Bros is taking itself out of the movie business. Netflix has […]
November 26, 2020
After 22 years of doing an annual Thankful column, I shouldn’t let a mad king and a pandemic get in the way. I am always thankful for filmmakers doing the work, even when the work doesn’t live up to my idea of the highest quality. The work of making movies is almost never easy. The […]
November 24, 2020
2020 has been a brutal year… at the movies and everywhere else. Most of us are hopeful that 2021 will bring positive change, starting with the taming of the virus by habit and vaccine. I believe, intensely, that The Academy is making a mistake by moving forward to have a competitive season at a time […]
November 18, 2020
Sing it! We are floating in the Mini-Me *Oscar season. Some people are happy. Some less so. But it is undeniable that this is not just a two-month delay in the way things normally are (except at Netflix… and not really even there). We are in a shrunken season, with as many players that are […]
November 12, 2020
Working my way through DOC NYC 2020 this last couple weeks, I realize the multiple factors that are setting reactions to documentaries. First, there is content, and how each of us connects to that material. Something we didn’t know about something that fascinates us is always the “best” film. Something we know a bit about […]
November 9, 2020
Phew. The last time I wrote about the film and television industry, aside from Twitter, was three full weeks ago. Actions have taken place in the industry, but nothing foundational has really changed since then. That doesn’t mean that the losses haven’t hurt and the wins haven’t soothed all of us. NATO still should get […]
October 18, 2020
An article this weekend by A.O. Scott at the New York Times and a thread on Twitter by Ted Hope got me riled up. The Scott article is a mélange of consumer and critic judgements about the theatrical experience combined with assertions of how theatrical is seen within the finance of the industry, with almost […]
October 1, 2020
1. Mank – Your likely winner.NomadlandTenetDuneNews of the World C’mon C’mon (no date yet)ConnectedHillbilly ElegyThe Trial of The Chicago SevenThe United States vs. Billie Holiday Possible Slot ReplacementsSoulNo Time To DieMa Rainey’s Black BottomThe Outpost
September 30, 2020
I was as generous as I could be. 38 movies seems to be the maximum that could be in contention for everything but Shorts, Animation, International, and Documentary. This includes 6 titles that are not currently scheduled to premiere this year, in theaters or out, or which have no announced their awards ambitions. Now… remove, […]
September 23, 2020
And here we go… pretending that everything is normal as we take the small handful of movies that would be considered the lower tier of Oscar candidates, and even then, only a small part of that tier, and handing out Oscars like Sour Patch Kids (the here’s-a-sweet-for-your-oddball-screening candy of choice) because what the hell, we […]
WandaVision: Episode 3 (Spoilers)
| January 25, 2021
Review: Malcolm & Marie & The Failure To Reach Euphoria
| January 23, 2021
Movie Content Scoreboard: Episode 4 (Jan 21, 2020)
| January 21, 2021
DP/30: The Dissident, Bryan Fogel
| January 25, 2021
DP/30 Audio: Bombshell, Jay Roach
| December 13, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jonathan Majors
| December 4, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Mustang, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
| December 4, 2019
