2018 – The Year of The Movie!
For Christmas last year, my lovely wife gave me a MoviePass card. For a while, I could see a movie every day! My mission was “to see a LOT” – for at least as long as the pass holds up. It didn’t last through May. I haven’t been able to see a film that I wanted to see with the pass since June. However, before then I saw many, and decided to take a swipe at being a critic. That turned into a “Oscars game” where I made an effort to see all, and write a review for all the movies nominated for the Best Picture category, then make my own picks prior to the awards show. For years I have used the FLIXSTER app just to see the aggregated critic and user ratings from Rotten Tomatoes before deciding to spend my time and money on a film. I never read a review prior to watching, but often I read a few after to see what the justifications are. I continued this approach, integrating it into what I’ve written here. How did I do in the Oscars game? See for yourself…
My All-Time Favorite Films are:






All my reviews are below (click on the picture to read):
Oscars 2020!
Scotts Best Picture nominee short reviews and winner for 2020!
Ready Player One
Unlike most of my other reviews, this one contains spoilers for the book and movie. I’m pretty angry and I need to crap out some examples. This movie is extremely difficult to be objective about. I might give it a higher rating if I had not read and loved the book.
The Oscars 90th (Part 2)
Scott’s selection for the 90th Academy Awards Best Picture is:
Lady Bird
My Rating: Teen angst. It's been done a million times. No, really, probably more than a million. From every Disney and Nickelodeon television show ever created, to all 50 years of Hollywood's productions I've been around for. Some are more...
The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water has what I would dearly like to see more of from Hollywood: It has creative originality that isn’t afraid to punch your right in the face with its humor and bold handling of the human condition. I have to say, I think Michael Shannon absolutely steals the movie.
Darkest Hour
Darkest Hour was the antithesis of Dunkirk. All character. All acting and story and about a man of deep character going through a transformation. After leaving the theater, having written the Dunkirk review just the day before, I had the great “if only” fantasy. If only I could take both films, mash them together, and edit the crap out of them – wow, what a movie that would be.
Dunkirk
I can understand why Dunkirk is nominated for best picture. It captures the mood and feel of a desperate situation in history as well as any movie ever has. The movie is fraught with tension and, I assume, is accurate enough, because with my knowledge of the war I was able to suspend my disbelief without conscious effort. There are two aspects that prevent me from saying it is great…
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
With all this accolade for the acting in the film, why such a low rating for a best picture nominee? I was entertained. I laughed at the jokes. I admired the characters and how they were played. It is because I walked out of the theater with three things really bothering me…
Get Out
Get Out is a slow cooked meal. It take’s some time to get things right, and then everything falls apart into surprisingly delicious pieces. What begins as…
The Oscars 90th (Part 1)
The nominations for Best Picture are out! I I will watch and review every movie nominated, and then post my pick on the blog prior to the Academy Awards. Let’s see how I do.