Penny Marshall appreciation post! She passed yesterday at the age of 75. She directed a host of movies, of which she was probably best known for Big and A League of Their Own. (You may also remember her as Laverne of Laverne and Shirley, but this isn’t the television discussion post, dammit.) Continue reading Movie Discussion 12/18/2018
After every review said to catch this one on the big screen if you can, Netflix is expanding Roma to 600 theaters this weekend. Want to talk more about Netflix in the movie business? Meet me in the comments! Continue reading Movie Discussion 12/11/2018
Happy 15th anniversary this week to Elf! Happy 30th anniversary to, uh, Ernest Saves Christmas! Continue reading Movie Discussion 12/4/2018
Movie happenings: Bernardo Bertolucci, director of Last Tango in Paris, died. The Triplets of Belleville was released in the US 15 years ago yesterday. Twilight was released ten years ago this week. Anna Kendrick forgot she was in it: https://twitter.com/annakendrick47/status/1067110126123794432?s=21 Tomorrow is Jane Russell night on Turner Classic Movies! You know what to do. Tell us about all the movies you watched over the long weekend, if you got one, and everything you’re trying to finish on FilmStruck before it shuts down. Continue reading Movie Discussion 11/27/2018
Thanksgiving is upon us, and with it comes our first rush of high-profile holiday-season movies. What are you looking forward to the most? Any Thanksgiving movie traditions? Anything you’re really trying to catch before 2018’s over? Continue reading Movie Discussion 11/20/2018
Why is there another Grinch movie? Who asked for this? Why do I love Angela Lansbury so much only for her to try my patience so? Continue reading Movie Discussion 11/13/2018
Happy Halloween Eve! What are y’all watching to get in the spirit? Continue reading Movie Discussion 10/30
Happy 25th anniversary to The Nightmare Before Christmas, which was released this week in 1993. On TCM today: We’re celebrating Rita Hayworth’s 100th birthday every Tuesday this month. (Her actual birthday would have been October 17th.) It looks like they started with the obvious choices, and now we’re getting to some deeper cuts: Separate Tables, The Story on Page One, The Happy Thieves, The Bastard, and The Wrath of God. Also check your local theaters’ lineups! A bunch of them (too many to list) are doing fun Halloween-themed re-releases this month. Continue reading Movie Discussion 10/23/2018
Some movie happenings this week: Fathom Events is bringing Mr. Smith Goes to Washington to the big screen tomorrow night at a bunch of different theater chains. Check your local listings! (I love it when I get to say something that makes me sound like an old-timey radio ad.) Also tomorrow night, TCM is running a selection of Boris Karloff movies: The Old Dark House, The Walking Dead, Isle of the Dead (hmm, sensing a theme here), Bedlam, Die, Monster, Die!, The Sorcerers, and The Terror. Next week it’ll be Bela Lugosi’s time to shine, followed by Vincent Price on … Continue reading Movie Discussion 10/16/2018
A Star was finally Born! I swear to god, I have seen that trailer before no less than ten different movies over the past six months, and I am very ready to never take another look at it ever again. Debate your favorite take on the A Star Is Born story below. Continue reading Movie Discussion 10/9/2018
Sorry everyone, I’m on vacation and in the mountains so my internet access is limited. This will be the world’s laziest movie discussion post because it’s the best I can do. Next week will be (slightly) better! Continue reading Movie Discussion 10/2/2018
Movie of the week: 2016’s Confirmation, starring Kerry Washington as Anita Hill. Because. Continue reading Movie Discussion 9/25/2018
The second half of September is apparently where you drop your most insane movies that somehow inexplicably got made anyway. Some of the weirdness out now or soon: Unbroken: Path to Redemption, a Pure Flix joint trying to position itself as a Jesus-y sequel to the 2014 Angelina Jolie-directed film despite none of the first film’s cast or crew returning. This one depicts Louis Zamperini’s post-war path to salvation. Billy Graham’s grandkid plays Billy Graham, if that gets your engines going. Where Hands Touch, a historical romance between a Nazi and a biracial woman. I know Americans don’t agree on … Continue reading Movie Discussion 9/18/2018
Turner Classic Movies’ special programming for September is the African-American experience on film. Tonight’s theme is coming-of-age stories, with Cooley High, Sounder, Bright Road, and The Learning Tree. P.S. Black Panther is on Netflix now; do it up. Continue reading Movie Discussion 9/11/2018
We’re on week #4 of our experimental post for high-quality (or at least, you know, medium-quality) political discussion, emphasizing longer posts with historical context, statistics, and fact-based evidence. This week’s topic: Political Campaigns Since we’re finishing up with primary season, I thought we’d put a spotlight on campaigning. Two possible directions here: The 2018 election season: What are the races you’re most interested in? What are your favorite campaign-related news stories right now? What do you think the media is under- or over-covering? Campaigning in general: What do you think people don’t understand about campaigns that you wish they would? (Especially … Continue reading Long-Form Political Discussion #4: Campaign Season
Some movie news: BlacKkKlansman has now doubled its production budget domestically! It’s also doing strangely well in Finland! Feel free to discuss anything movie-related below, including but not limited to Spike Lee’s return to form. Continue reading Movie Discussion 8/28/2018
Happy Friday! You made it. Do something nice for yourself. Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous‘s Robin Leach has died at 76. [Hollywood Reporter] Ben Affleck is back in rehab after Jennifer Garner stages an intervention. [Variety] Kenya Barris and Yamara Taylor are rebooting Bewitched with an interracial family at ABC. [Deadline] Common signs a deal with Lionsgate to develop new television programming. [Variety] Olivia de Havilland is taking her case against Ryan Murphy’s Feud to the Supreme Court, with big potential ramifications for biopics and based-on-a-true-story movies in the future. [Hollywood Reporter] Top Gun: Maverick has a cast, … Continue reading Entertainment News #22
Here’s a curiosity that’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime (although according to some sources, it’ll expire at the end of August): Chinese Box is an unexceptional film filmed under exceptional circumstances. It stars Jeremy Irons and Gong Li; its plot … Continue reading Movie Discussion 8/21/2018
The VMAs are taking up all the “entertainment news” space in the room, but I can’t bring myself to care more about the VMAs than this: The VMAs happened and everyone’s mad at Madonna. [People] The VMAs happened and The Hills is getting a reboot, but with only the worst people from the first round. [Hollywood Reporter] Kelly Marie Tran writes about leaving social media because she was “beginning to believe” what the racist and sexist trolls were saying about her. [New York Times] American Vandal‘s season 2 gets a trailer and premiere date. [Deadline] Katy Perry wants to keep … Continue reading Entertainment News #21
We’re on week #2 of our experimental post for high-quality (or at least, you know, medium-quality) political discussion, emphasizing longer posts with historical context, statistics, and fact-based evidence. This week’s topic: Political Journalism in the Age of Trump How well equipped are media outlets to cover Donald Trump, white supremacy, and other shifts in the political landscape? Who’s doing a good job? Who’s not? What should they be doing differently? Note #1: This is still a GIF/graphic/social media embed-free zone. Note #2: For purposes of encouraging discussion, try to stay away from posts that are just complaints about specific people. … Continue reading Long-Form Political Discussion #2: The Fourth Estate
Turner Classic Movies is in the midst of their annual August Summer Under the Stars “festival,” where various stars get an entire day of programming dedicated to them. Next Monday, 8/20, is Stewart Granger Day! A whole day dedicated to … Continue reading Movie Discussion 8/14/2018
