I have no intention of watching the Oscars (although my wife might persuade me to hate-watch them), but I’m curious to see if I can call these shots with any accuracy using my default cynicism as a guidepost. With each category, I’m going to call make a Probable Prediction, and a Sleeper Prediction. I’m not… Read More Not Everyone Gets a Statue: Oscar 2019 Predictions
A little under a year ago, I fisked a Variety article written about the day after last year’s Oscars. My purpose was to make fun of Variety’s substanceless click-bait, but as it evolved, I emitted a handful of sneering predictions. Which is to say, inasmuch as I participated in the anticipation of a program I… Read More How Good Were My Year-Old Oscar Predictions?
One of these days, I’m going to write one of these that’s not about the Stuart dynasty in some way. Queen Anne reigned briefly at the beginning of the 18th century, and spent most of her reign at war with France over who got to sit on the throne of Spain (that Hapsburg penchant for… Read More Quick Review: The Favourite
I actually finished Season 3 of The Man in the High Castle, which I had been seriously anticipating for a while. People who were also fans told me it was something of a disappointment, and actually a chore to get through. This proved to be right: I watched the season in shortish binges and the whole… Read More Not-So-Quick Review: The Man in the High Castle and the Gotcha Problem
What is this movie about? This was the question Wifey and I asked each other after viewing it. Ostensibly, it’s about a great many things, as a great many things were involved with the life of Mary Queen of Scots, the last Catholic monarch of Scotland (you might say, the last monarch of Scotland, period,… Read More Quick Review: Mary Queen of Scots
So Sayeth Variety: Another option being tossed around is not having any host at all, but rather “a bunch of huge celebs, something ‘SNL’ style, and buzzy people” to keep the show moving, the insiders said. A stunt like a group monologue was floated, one source added. What’s interesting, aside from the nap I’m going to… Read More And Now The Oscars Might Have No Host At All…
So here’s how the Kevin Hart thing went down: The Academy (whoever they are) offers a comedian a job being meh funny for a few hours while pretty people in gowns walk across the stage to announce other pretty people in gowns and then give each other shiny statues. Activists on Twitter (whoever they are) digs… Read More Do the Oscars Really Need a Host?
As part of a retrospective on Welles for its weekly movie post. His opinion matches my own. It’s an odd little movie, ambitious and self-referential, with an element of satire, both of Hollywood culture in the 70’s and of the art-house trends of that decade. The film within the film, which has the same title,… Read More Ace Of Spades Does “The Other Side of The Wind”
Apparently it’s 1971 or something, because Vice UK has a whole subsection of Astrological blather. It’s tongue-in-cheek, but also not: A Bunch of Vague Blather With the Latest in Cool-Kid Lingo for “Virgo Season” Same, But For Libras Oh, Hi Scorpios Yeah, We’re Just Gonna Keep On With This, Sagittarius But that’s not what brought… Read More Why Vice is Writing About Astrology
Let. It. Go. For over two decades there was talk of a third Ghostbusters movie, but that particular phantasm never materialized. Instead we got 2016’s Ghostbusters, a reboot of the property with an all-new cast that suffered all kinds of controversy and ultimately failed to be a hit at the box office. That seemingly killed another Ghostbusters in that continuity, but perhaps it opened the door… Read More Someone Hold Dan Akroyd Down and Make Him Stop Babbling About Ghostbusters 3
Content Blues 