“Rocketman” Directed by Dexter Fletcher There is no way to discuss Rocketman”, Dexter Fletcher’s new musical about Elton John’s pre-sober rise & fall, without comparing it to last year’s darling, “Bohemian Rhapsody”. In case I need to explain why…both John … Continue reading “Rocketman”
“Tolkien” Directed by Dome Karukoski So close to accomplishing the task of being a good film, alas, Karukoski’s “Tolkien” comes up short…falling further and further in my estimation of its success as time passes. Why? After all, the acting is … Continue reading “Tolkien”
“Apollo 11” Directed by Todd Douglas Miller One of my earliest lasting childhood memories is watching the moon landing in 1969. We sat around our tiny black and white TV with the spin channel selector (VHF was like a radio … Continue reading “Apollo 11”
Imagine if a writing prompt were given to a Hollywood screenwriting class that went something like this: Write a film about an alien trying to find her way through an unknown universe…an alien with crazy powers of strength and flight, … Continue reading “Alita: Battle Angel” & “Captain Marvel”
Grief, homicide investigations, reincarnation (sort of), and murder aren’t the kind of things you think of when searching for something to spend a few hours with. Or maybe they are, given the multitude of murder mysteries out there in the … Continue reading Five shows about dying: “After Life”, “Bosch” (S5), “Endeavour” (S6), “The OA” (S2) & “True Detective” (S3)
Apologies (groveling apologies) to JFK, there are so many shows who make Berlin their primary locale via streaming services that, as an American , it’s hard not to think back to that speech. But seriously, these three shows account for … Continue reading Ich bin ein binger: “Babylon Berlin”, “Berlin Station” (S3) & “Counterpart”
“Never Look Away” (Germany) Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Let’s start off by confessing my love for von Donnersmarck’s Academy Award-winning “The Lives of Others”. It is well ensconced in my Top Ten favorite films of all time. It … Continue reading “Never Look Away” (Germany)
I know many people will disagree with me, but, like 2017, I found 2018 to be a fairly weak year for GREAT films. Certainly nothing like 2016, which was sort of miraculous and made selecting my Top Fifteen of that … Continue reading Best and Worst Films of 2018
A good little crop of films this year. None of them are truly outstanding, but all are intriguing, even if one is a mere seven minutes long, another is a retread (granted, brutally honest) of several previous nominees, and a … Continue reading 2019 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts
91st Annual Academy Awards So this year I actually screened every single piece of nominated film except “Christopher Robin” (which isn’t going to win anyway), and having discussed the awards with several people in and around the voting process, and … Continue reading Jason’s Predictions and Predilections for the 91st Annual Academy Awards
