One of the reasons I launched this series was to try to understand the thought process AMPAS members go through to pick the Best Picture winner of any year. It’s…
Film
Jon Favreau may not be a household name yet but he is responsible for some of the most famous pop culture icons of the two decades. He started as an…
It’s a common refrain with any audience: “The book was better.” And most of the time, they’re right. That’s not to say there have been zero adaptations that have improved…
David Cronenberg’s filmography is among the strangest in horror cinema. He started in Canada making an unofficial adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s High Rise – with parasites thrown in for good…
There are plenty of films that win Best Picture but are turned on by the public and retroactively labelled as terrible messes. There are other Best Picture winners that are…
At the start of 2020, many people (myself included) were openly wondering how long the movie theater business model could last. Now, the situation has become far more dire. AMC…
Joel Schumacher passed away earlier this month after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 80. And his obituaries have been some of the weirdest things I’ve read. Schumacher, throughout…
Like many cinephiles, I am obsessed with lost/alternate cuts of films. It presents an alternate version of history and, for me, was one of the main draws to a film’s…
The Worst of the Best re-examines the most unpopular Best Picture winners to see if they have any merit and determine why they won the top prize. It’s difficult…
I’ve covered two types of debuts on (Not-So) Famous Firsts. The first is the type of debut that, while embarrassing, allows the director in question to point to his roots…
Recently, Sonic the Hedgehog was released after being delayed four months to fix its CGI after its first trailer became the laughingstock of the internet. Everyone expected it to be…
The 2019 Oscar ceremony is upon us and already people are expressing their dissatisfaction with AMPAS. After years, if not decades, of being a white boy’s club, AMPAS finally started…
For more than sixty years now, Woody Allen has been an icon in the comedy world. Lately, though, it’s obvious that he’ll likely be remembered just as much for his…
I know that may be the new norm for stores in the U.S., but it feels wrong to hear “White Christmas” the first week of November. And honestly, I don’t…
Halloween gets all the movie nerds excited. This is the season where it becomes not only socially acceptable to watch gory films, but it’s almost mandatory. It’s also the time…
My goal with (Not So) Famous Firsts is to remind myself that everyone has stumbling blocks to get over. Steven Spielberg wasn’t automatically a superstar when he directed the made-for-TV…
I was fortunate enough to see Apocalypse Now during its recent IMAX rerelease. It was advertised as the “Final Cut,” like the release Blade Runner received on its 25th anniversary….
The most influential figure on the new Hollywood era was Roger Corman. He’s the one who gave Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, Monte Hellman, Johnathan Demme, Robert Towne, Nicolas Roeg, and…
Ah, summer. It was the most important season in our adolescent lives. These days, summer to me is exciting because it means the school buses won’t affect my morning commute…
A smart film critic (possibly Ken Hanke) once wrote, “Filmmakers start by remaking things they admired in childhood.” I am not able to find out exactly who wrote this, partly…
In a career spanning 34 years, director Terry Zwigoff has only directed four major films. His 1994 feature Crumb may be the greatest American documentary ever made. He followed that…
“If you asked a random person what their most anticipated release of April 2019 was, they likely said Avengers: Endgame. Yet I picked The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam’s…
Starting this weekend, trendy music genres like trap, EDM, trance house, crunk, or whatever the hell else the kids are listening to these days will step aside while their dark…
Ryan Coogler has only directed three feature films, but he’s already attained the success very few filmmakers ever attain in their careers. Coogler not only revived a dead franchise for…
Since Generation X filmmakers came of age, comic books have been the driving narrative force behind every other piece of media in existence. Black Panther won three Oscars and Marvel’s…
It’s been five years since Alfonso Cuarón released Gravity and won the Best Director Oscar. But with the release of Roma he’s once again the front runner at the Oscars…
I don’t hate Christmas. I enjoy the time I get to spend with my family and the time I get to take off from work. I also enjoy seeing people…
WarnerMedia announced its streaming service FilmStruck announced last month that it was shutting down on November 29. The reasons WarnerMedia gave to Variety for the decision were, at best, unsatisfactory….
Most horror films, while capable of offering a great thrill ride for their run time and make people confront the dark ideas they present, aren’t capable of being truly scary….
The fandom behind The Rocky Horror Picture Show is something I have never really understood. I’ve tried to, because for more than forty years, Rocky Horror has been the yardstick…