All Movie Reviews, Drama, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Fifty Shades Freed (2018) Movie Review

Congratulations, everyone. We are now officially living in a post-Fifty Shades world. It’s over. We made it.

Listen, the Fifty Shades trilogy has received its guff. We all know what the critical consensus is on these films. Why bother with yet another review of yet another film of this trilogy? Because, at the risk of losing any credibility I may have accrued as a critic, Fifty Shades Freed is the best of the trilogy.

50-shades-freed-movie-review-2018-dakota-johnson

Does that make it a good film? No. Is it a film with a better message than the other Fifty Shades movies? Not at all. But it has Continue reading Fifty Shades Freed (2018) Movie Review →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Documentary Short Subject

Finally, I can close out my 2018 (very inaccurate) Oscar predictions with a look at the Best Documentary Short Subject category. Having discovered that all of the short films will (or soon will) be available to stream online, I took the time to brush up on them.

And, let me tell you, this is a tight race.

watch-oscar-nominated-short-films-online-2018-heaven-is-a-traffic-jam

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Documentary Short Subject →

2018 Academy Awards, Short Films

Where to Stream the 2018 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Online

Each year, when the Academy announces its nominations, there is always a certain frustration that comes with finding some of the smaller films in award contention. The 15 short films that receive nominations, in particular, are always tricky to find before the Oscar ceremony.

netflix-heroine-doc-short-film-oscar-nominee-2018

Thankfully, all of the 2018 Best Documentary Short Subject films are available to Continue reading Where to Stream the 2018 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts Online →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Live Action Short Film

The short film categories at the Academy Awards can be some of the hardest to predict. Given that so few people see them prior to the ceremony, it is hard to gauge front-runner status. Even when there is a leader of the pack, these categories can be prone to upsets.

academy-awards-2018-best-live-action-short-film-my-nephew-emmett

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Live Action Short Film →

All Movie Reviews, Like It, Quickie Reviews (<400 Words), Short Films

Watu Wote (All of Us) (2017) Short Film Review

Watu Wote from director Katja Benrath is one of five films nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film

academy-award-nominee-live-action-short-2018-watu-wote-review

Watu Wote is a beautifully-captured film. Shot mostly at night with low-light lighting schemes, the short nevertheless captures the streets of Kenya wonderfully.

Much of the action of the short, however, takes place inside Continue reading Watu Wote (All of Us) (2017) Short Film Review →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words), Sci-Fi/Fantasy

The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) Movie Review

The Cloverfield franchise continued its adept surprise-marketing technique during Super Bowl LII. With a brief teaser trailer dropping for The Cloverfield Paradox (once entitled God Particle), the Netflix-acquired film from Bad Robot announced that the film would be coming very soon. Opening up the Netflix app revealed further that the film would be available to stream immediately following the big game.

the-cloverfield-paradox-movie-review-2018-super-bowl-netflix

This essentially unprecedented marketing move is sure to pay big dividends for Netflix, at least in the film’s first Continue reading The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) Movie Review →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film

The biggest conversation in the Best Foreign Language Film category this year is what is not nominated. With the unexpected Golden Globe winner In the Fade out of the race, it shakes up the Oscar conversation.

loveless-2017-movie-review-tiff-andrey-zvyagintsev

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film →

All Movie Reviews, Horror, Leave it, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Winchester (2018) Movie Review

Sarah Winchester (Helen Mirren), owner of the Winchester repeating rifle company, lives in an elaborate, labyrinthine mansion of an estate. “There are almost 100 rooms in the house,” Sarah Snook’s character says early in the film. “It is easy to get lost.”

winchester-haunting-movie-review-2018-horror-film

She says this to doctor Eric Price (Jason Clarke), who is called on to judge the state of Sarah Winchester’s mental health. This is due to concern that other Winchester stock holders have over Sarah’s obsession with the idea that her house is haunted by Continue reading Winchester (2018) Movie Review →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Animated Short Film

Ah, the short film categories. Categories that I tend to predict before seeing the majority of the nominees, then I forget to come back and re-write the articles once I’ve seen them all. This year will be no different, no doubt, so keep that in mind.

That said, the animated short category is never all that hard to parse.

best-animated-short-film-2018-kobe-bryant

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Animated Short Film →

2018 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Production Design

In 2018, the five nominees for Best Production Design are exceedingly diverse. None of these films have sets that look like the rest. Kinda makes my job a little harder, huh?

Oh well, no one asked me to do this in the first place.

shape-of-water-2017-movie-review-guillermo-del-toro

The Nominees:

Continue reading 2018 Academy Awards Predictions – Best Production Design →

One man. Thousands of movies.