Director Chan-wook Park is not afraid to push buttons. He’s not afraid to be different. Not afraid to indulge.
The Handmaiden may be Chan-wook Park’s most button-pushing, different, indulgent film to date.
In 1930s Korea, a woman named Sook-hee (Tae-ri Kim) is hired to be the handmaiden of a wealthy Japanese heiress Lady Hideko (Min-hee Kim). But nothing is what meets the eye. Nothing. Sook-hee is Continue reading The Handmaiden (2016) Movie Review
Sunday 29, 2017 will mark the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards. The ceremony is one of the many guild precursors to the Academy Awards. Many film pundits look at the SAGs to determine which actors and actresses will likely win the Oscars in the acting categories. The award show also features the closest thing to an Oscar for Best Acting Ensemble.
Speaking of this, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture is the biggest award of the night at the SAGs, the closest thing the guild has to Continue reading The Screen Actors Guild Awards: What to Expect
After watching the nearly eight hour ESPN documentary O.J.: Made in America, I decided not to give it a review. Perhaps it was due to the shear exhaustion. Now that the Oscar nominations are out and O.J. is in there, I feel this analysis can act as a de facto review.
It may seem jarring that a television documentary miniseries is being considered for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. The series qualified for these awards season film categories by having Continue reading Why O.J.: Made in America Will Win the Oscar for Best Documentary
Nine films received honors at the 2017 Academy Awards for Best Picture. That means the Academy deems these films to be the best of the year. Hands down. Are they right about this distinction? An argument can be made to the opposite. But that is a conversation for a different day.
For now, let’s look at what they did pick as the best of 2016. More importantly, let’s rank the nine from worst to best. Continue reading Ranking the Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees
At the age of three, Owen Suskind “disappears.” He changes: awake all night, speaking in gibberish, a loss of motor function, an inability to understand what people are saying. Diagnosed with autism, Owen’s life changes forever.
But a love for animated movies, particularly those of the Disney Corporation, allows Owen an outlet from which he can Continue reading Life, Animated (2016) Movie Review
The story of the people on board the Deepwater Horizon during the BP oil spill are the subjects of the Peter Berg feature Deepwater Horizon. As with other Berg films, it is a cinema verite style affair, with plenty of handheld shots following right over the shoulder of our heroes. That is, when indulgent crane shots aren’t taking snapshots of the glorious landscapes.
These aforementioned heroes, namely Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg), are quippy, fast-talking working folk who feel something is up as soon as Continue reading Deepwater Horizon (2016) Movie Review
Best Foreign Language Film is one of those categories that I don’t feel qualified to discuss, mainly because I’ve only seen one of the five films. But…I think I’ve got this.
Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Foreign Language Film
Production Design is great. It is necessary. Without it a film would be like Neil Breen taping garbage bags up in his garage as a set. But it is also not an easy Oscar category to predict.
Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Production Design
Predicting one of the Oscar short film categories having only seen one of the five films is like calling your shot while wearing a blindfold. It’s like being a movie nerd badass, you know? Or…it’s like understanding what the term Pixar refers to…movie nerd badass is oxymoronic…moronic, really…What were we talking about?
Update: I have now seen all five of the nominated Animated Short Films. You can find a review of all five (save for Piper, a link for that review is below) here.
Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Animated Short Film
All right, Best Makeup & Hairstyling. It’s only three movies, you can’t screw up. Come on, Alex! It’s just haircuts! You can judge haircuts!
Ahem, sorry. I didn’t realize you had…clicked through already.
The Academy Award for Best Makeup & Hairstyling is…ah man now I’ve lost my train of thought. Let’s see…there’s that Swedish movie. I think there’s some old-age makeup in that one. The guy wears a hat most of the movie…does he even have hair? Star Trek is aliens…now is that makeup or CGI? Chris Pine has nice hair…Suicide Squad…they’re all painted white like clowns…her hair’s kind of rainbow…
Continue reading Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Makeup & Hairstyling
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