Category: Movies

Alright, Alright, Alright…: The Top 5 Characters from “Dazed and Confused”

Alright, Alright, Alright…: The Top 5 Characters from “Dazed and Confused”

It’s the end of the school year. For me, that seems like a perfect time to revisit Richard Linklater’s epic salute to the last day of school, Dazed and Confused. On top of that, Dazed is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Lots of words have been spilled about this true classic coming-of-age-ish tale, about the big splash it made for Linklater, and about the myriad stars whose careers blossomed from it. I don’t know that me doing a review of it would make that big a contribution to that body of reviews. So instead, I’m going to highlight the best part of the movie for me–its panorama of characters portraying and occasionally subverting high-school types–and have some fun revisiting the film by counting down my five favorite characters. I hope you’ll think it’s fun, too!

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“Air” is a Breezy Good Time

“Air” is a Breezy Good Time

Confession time: I wasn’t a fan of Michael Jordan during his playing career. I was a fan of the late 80s-early 90s “Bad Boys” Pistons and Jordan and the Bulls were the hated rivals. I never quite got over that. So, naturally, I never had any interest in obtaining a pair of Air Jordans. So, a few decades later, could I find a movie about the creation of the Air Jordan to be a worthwhile watch? Thanks to a great cast, a streamlined script, and an “air” of not taking itself too seriously, the answer is, “Absolutely.” For a movie about product marketing, Air is a lot of fun.

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Goodbye to the “Guardians”

Goodbye to the “Guardians”

Guardians of the Galaxy is not only still my favorite movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but, when it came out, it was one of my favorite films of 2014 (part of a Chris Pratt one-two punch with The Lego Movie). Director and co-writer James Gunn and company made a movie that still fit well in the MCU and its CGI-powered spectacle, but also gave us characters that we could really care about because they came to care about each other. While Volume 2 was…not my favorite, that and the Infinity Saga Avengers movies gave us more time to spend with this ragtag, irreverent group of “heroes.” Now, with Gunn heading up the DC film universe and some of the stars saying that they are done, we have now reached what appears to be the end of the Guardians, at least in this form. And, while it’s not a great film, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 still gives us the humor, emotion, and great soundtrack that has made this found family of castoffs worth watching in the first place.

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The Pieces Fly Fast in “Tetris”

The Pieces Fly Fast in “Tetris”

This past week, The Super Mario Bros. Movie crossed the one billion dollar worldwide box-office threshold and has more than doubled the take of the the #2 movie of the year, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It’s easily the best-performing movie based on video game of all time. And while I enjoyed it, I just saw a 2023 video-game themed movie that I liked even better. With a fantastic lead performance by Taron Egerton (Rocketman) and a breakneck pace that just seems to get faster and faster the more you play…err, watch, Apple’s Tetris is almost as much fun as the game itself.

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Win Your Oscar Pool! – Part Three: The “Other” Awards

Win Your Oscar Pool! – Part Three: The “Other” Awards

For those of you who go to the best Oscar parties or enter the toughest prediction contests, you may have to pick from some of the categories filled with more obscure titles like “Best International Feature” or “Best Live Action Short Film.” I’ve got you. These are the categories where the films are almost always (but, as you will see, not always always) excluded from the feature film categories. They don’t necessarily go together except that they are the “other” categories. But either you need to know them to make your picks or you need to know that I really do know what I’m talking about. Either way, here we go. I’ll do these in order from the most likely for you to have seen them to, “Why do they have a category for these?”

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Win Your Oscar Pool! – Part Two: The Technical Awards

Win Your Oscar Pool! – Part Two: The Technical Awards

We’re back with our second set of Oscar predictions. Today, we’re focusing on all of those awards people typically go to the bathroom during–the technical awards. These are the awards for the unsung heroes of the movie: those who shape the look, sound, and feel of what you’re watching through lighting, editing, set design, and so on. So, these folks are essential to the art of filmmaking and thus are rightly recognized on Oscar night. If you are making a full set of predictions, you don’t need to know about these crafts, but you need to know who Oscar will think is the best at them this year.

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Win Your Oscar Pool! – Part One: The Major Awards

Win Your Oscar Pool! – Part One: The Major Awards

So it’s Academy Awards week. For a lot of us film nerds, it’s like our Super Bowl Sunday (although the nerdiest of film nerds are too cool for something so commercial as the Oscars). And, while most of you will be filling out March Madness brackets on Sunday, some of you may be participating in an Oscar pool. That’s where I come in. Over the next few days, I will be giving you my bet-the-house Oscar predictions in every category (PLEASE do not bet the house–this really is one of the most unpredictable Oscars in a long time). Feel free to steal them for yourself and dominate your Oscar pool.

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True/False 2023: Sunday

True/False 2023: Sunday

Sunday at True/False is always a mix of feelings. There’s satisfaction at getting to see a bunch of docs with receptive audiences. There’s the bittersweetness of a good time coming to an end. And there’s a level of weariness. Who know that just watching a bunch of movies could be so exhausting? All that said, it was great to be back at True/False and to finish the festival with a solid slate of films:

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