Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater in TRUE ROMANCE — PHOTO: Warner Bros. (Still image from trailer).
Directed by Tony Scott — Screenplay by Quentin Tarantino.
Tony Scott’s True Romance follows Clarence (played by Christian Slater) and Alabama (played by Patricia Arquette), two newlyweds who are headed for Hollywood to start their new life together. However, before they got going, Clarence stole a suitcase of drugs, the loss of which has now put the couple at the top of the Mafia’s hit list.
This is one of those movies that’s been on my watchlist for quite some time. A little over a month ago, I finally got the Arrow Video 4K Blu-ray, and today I finally thought it was a good time to check out what this early ’90s flick was all about. I’m glad I did. True Romance is an exhilarating and irresistible crime charmer.
Cillian Murphy is outstanding as the titular theoretical physicist in Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER — PHOTO: Universal Pictures.
Directed by Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk; Tenet) — Screenplay by Christopher Nolan.
In 1965, famed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer appeared on a television broadcast, and, on said broadcast, he gave an account of how people reacted and what went through his head during the so-called ‘Trinity Test’ in 1945, when Oppenheimer and a group of physicists had successfully created and detonated the first nuclear weapon. Oppenheimer claimed that a specific line from the Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita popped into his head: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” It is a chilling quote that has echoed through generations and had a life of its own. For the twelfth feature film in his oeuvre, the immensely popular auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan opted to tell J. Robert Oppenheimer’s story. It’s a film about a man full of paradoxes, such as how he became a political figure with strong left-wing disarmament views but was also the man who is known for having willfully created a weapon that once dwarfed all others and forever changed warfare and foreign policy. But it is also a film that gets to the heart of the rot of the American soul in the 20th Century. It is an intimate account of the complicated headspace of a historically significant genius, but it is also a haunting and damning cautionary tale about learning the wrong lessons, naivete, guilt, covetousness, and ripple effects. It is an astoundingly brilliant achievement and much more than your average biopic.
Maya Hawke as Heather in FEAR STREET PART ONE: 1994 – Photo: Netflix.
In this edition of my monthly movie and television catch-up article series titled ‘Additional Bite-Sized Reviews,’ I talk about my experience of trying to catch-up on some of the 2021 films released earlier this year, including an entire trilogy of films! What did I think about the Fear Street-films? Is the Rear Window-inspired flick, The Woman in the Window, worth a watch? Is Bad Trip, the hidden camera comedy, funny enough for its runtime? Are Doug Liman and Alexandre Aja’s latest films any good? Well, scroll down to find out in another jam-packed edition of Additional Bite-Sized Reviews!
I really enjoyed doing this for the last two years, so it’s happening again! It has become a tradition of mine. The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony was only just held a few days ago, and I’ve only seen, like, a handful of films from 2020 at this point. I think I have a pretty good idea of what is coming out this year, though. So, without further ado, let’s get to it. Continue reading “Early 93rd Academy Awards Predictions – Special Features #63”→
The following is a review of The Laundromat — Directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Earlier this year, Palme d’Or-winning director Steven Soderbergh’s first Netflix film High Flying Bird was released on Netflix. It, a great film about the intersection of sports and business, is still one of the best surprises of the year. The Laundromat, Soderbergh’s second Netflix feature film, was a film that I was looking forward to, for quite some time, due to the director and the cast. Based on the premise, the filmmaker, and the cast, I thought this was going to be one of the most interesting films of the year. Unfortunately, The Laundromat, a playful but tired biographical drama, is interesting for all the wrong reasons. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Laundromat (2019)”→
This is it. Here we are. This Sunday, the 90th Academy Awards will be held. They’ll laugh about the La La Land–Moonlight mess, maybe they’ll even invite the presenters and the producers of both films onto the stage for some kind of joke. Streaks will be broken, there will be bad decisions, good decisions, and decisions that will look idiotic years from now. That’s the Oscars. That’s all a part of the game. Being that it is this close, it is finally time for me to reveal my final Oscar predictions for this awards season. Who will win? Who will lose? What would I have voted for? Let’s dive right in with the first categories. Continue reading “Final 90th Academy Awards Predictions: Winners – Special Features #17”→
The following is a review of Darkest Hour — Directed by Joe Wright.
Darkest Hour — not to be confused with The Darkest Hour, a 2011 alien invasion movie set in Russia — is the newest film from British director Joe Wright, who is behind such films as 2007’s beautiful, heart-wrenching, and soul-crushing Atonement. Continue reading “REVIEW: Darkest Hour (2017)”→
The following is a quick review of Criminal – Directed by Ariel Vromen.
In Vromen’s Criminal, a valuable CIA agent (played by Ryan Reynolds) is killed, but the CIA, led by Quaker Wells (played by Gary Oldman), are in desperate need of his memories. So they contact Dr. Franks (played by Tommy Lee Jones) who might be able to transfer the agents memories into the body of a convict (played by Kevin Costner) so that they can finish the CIA mission. Continue reading “REVIEW: Criminal (2016)”→
We’ve reached the end of this week’s event series of posts: Harry Potter Week. I’ve reviewed every single Harry Potter film, and I’m now ready to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them when it gets its theatrical release next month.
But before I do that, I want to end this Harry Potter Week with a solid series finale. Today, I’m ranking the top 10 characters from the Harry Potter series of films released between 2001 and 2011. Now, don’t worry about the three protagonists finishing one, two, and three – that’s not happening. So, without further ado, here are the top 10 characters from Harry Potter. Continue reading “Top 10 – Harry Potter Characters”→