“The Farewell” Film Review: Finding the Truth in Lies

The Farewell (2019) is written and directed by Lulu Wang, based on a true story about a Chinese family who returns to their homeland to spend time with their grandmother before her passing. The family decides to arrange a fake wedding as justification for the trip in order to keep the grandmother in the dark about her own grim cancer prognosis. Awkwafina stars as a young woman grappling with her family’s desire for her not to say anything and her own desire to tell the truth. The film was a Sundance favorite and is one of the most acclaimed films of the year, maintaining a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. What makes this story so special?

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Film Review

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) is Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film, a sprawling tale of crime and cinema in 1960’s Los Angeles. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning and many, many more. It is quite possibly one of Tarantino’s final films before his rumored retirement, and has so far drawn rave reviews from critics. How does it stack up against his best offerings over the past two and a half decades?

Foreign Film Fridays: “Amour” (Austria, 2012)

Welcome back to Foreign Film Fridays, where I look back at some of the best foreign language films of recent years! Today we dig into Amour (2012), Austrian auteur Michael Haneke’s masterpiece, winner of the Palme d’Or and the Oscar for Foreign Film (among four other above-the-line nominations). It stars Emmanuelle Riva as an elderly woman who suffers a debilitating stroke, Jean-Louis Trintigant as her husband who must decide how best to care for her, and Isabelle Huppert as their adult daughter who watches on in horror as the situation unfolds. It’s a tragic and unflinching film with not much uplift to it…so why is it so beloved in cinephile circles?

“The Lion King” and Disney’s Cultural Wasteland

This weekend brings us the much-anticipated release of Disney’s The Lion King remake, currently clocking in at an uninspiring 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. And yet, it’s projected to make over a billion dollars and become one of the highest grossing films of the year – yet another addition to Disney’s growing stranglehold on the box office. How did we get to this point? Are audiences getting stupider? Has Disney grown too large? What does this mean for the future of cinema heading into a new decade?

“Midsommar” Review: What is Horror, Anyway?

Midsommar (2019) is the sophomore effort from Ari Aster, who made waves last year with his fabulous debut chiller Hereditary. It follows Dani (Florence Pugh), a young woman who follows her boyfriend to rural Sweden to participate in a ritual festival held only once every 90 years. And since this is a horror flick, of course things go wrong! How does the film compare to Aster’s previous work, and does it provide sufficient thrills and chills as a standalone experience?

My (Way-too-Early) 2020 Oscar Predictions

The Oscars are still seven months away, but it’s never too early to make totally baseless and incorrect predictions for the ceremony! I did the same thing last year and was pretty off-base on most categories while getting fairly close on a few. Let’s check in on the state of the major races before awards season starts, and begin tracking how it all goes down!

“Chernobyl” Miniseries Review: The Price of Truth

Chernobyl (2019) is a five-episode miniseries from HBO created by Craig Mazin, who is a well-known screenwriting podcaster along with John August (“Scriptnotes”). It tells the story of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown of 1986: the factors leading to its failure, the difficulties of the cleanup efforts, and the ramifications still being felt today. It has drawn rave reviews and is already considered one of the best miniseries ever, so despite my natural aversion to television, I decided to check it out for myself. What does this series do differently than other shows like it?

Top 20 Upcoming Films of 2019

Awards season is fast approaching! What films are being buzzed about most as heavyweight contenders for the Oscars, and which am I most looking forward to?

“Spider-Man: Far from Home” Film Review: A Departure from the Norm (Good and Bad)

Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019) is the second standalone Spidey film featuring Tom Holland and the final film of Phase 3 in the MCU. It features our friendly-neighborhood web-slinger on a European vacation, where he crosses paths with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) as strange elementals start attacking Earth. The film picks up where Avengers: Endgame left off and paves a path that leads into the next stage of MCU films. What direction is the franchise headed into the 2020’s? *SPOILERS AHEAD!*

The 2019 Midpoint Oscars

As we wrap up the first half of 2019, I always like to check in on the major awards races and see what the best performances, scripts, directors, and films are of the year so far. While most of the heavy-hitters for these races haven’t even come out yet, if the 92nd Academy Awards were held today, who would walk away victorious?