Category: Columns

2023 Summer Movie Awards

Summer 2023 is in the rearview and looking back, it was a pretty good one. The season was largely bolstered by the releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” but there were quite a few other good flicks out there.

Just a note, I did miss a few of the blockbusters, namely ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and “The Flash.” However, from what I’ve read, I didn’t miss much.

Based on what I did see, I’m ready to give out my personal awards to the best this summer had to offer.

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2023 Oscar Docs: A Look at the Nominees

The Best Documentary category is an important part of Oscar night, celebrating films that dig into hot topics or study important figures.

Like most years, the 2022 docs up for an award this season includes films from across the world covering a wide array of topics. Unfortunately, this year’s lineup tended to be a bit weaker than those in past seasons.

There are still some that are recommendable, though. Find out my thoughts below.
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Bowl Season Counterparts in Film Awards

There are two things I love watching during this time of year: college football bowl games and award ceremonies.

Both are exciting in their own right. Bowl games, big and small, often provide some thrilling postseason moments making for great entertainment even if your team isn’t playing.

Award season, meanwhile, are celebrations of great films and offers a bit of competition to the world of movies, making for really good drama.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that the two seasons have something in common, which is that they’re not created equal. As the award season goes on, the prestige of the ceremonies increases. It’s the same way with bowl season.

With college football, there are six games, called the New Year’s Six, that are considered the best bowls, and include the two semi-finals to qualify for the national title game. In award season, meanwhile, the major awards often include the guild ceremonies and the Oscars, which happen late in the season.

With that in mind, I decided to match which game equates best to an award ceremony in the season.

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2022 Summer Movie Awards

Summer 2022, headlined by “Top Gun: Maverick,” has come to an end, meaning it’s time to honor the best the season had to offer.

The summer movie season, for me, runs from the start of May until the end of August, so any movie I watched during that time was eligible. “Maverick” as expected, definitely had some success. However, plenty of other films earned awards too.

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Retrospect Reviews: ‘War of the Worlds and “Last Samurai’

Tom Cruise has been a major actor in Hollywood for a while, but as a 90s kid, I didn’t start seeing his movies regularly until the mid-2000s.

Perhaps his best work during that period was his performance as the cold, calculating hitman in 2004’s “Collateral.” That period also saw him appear in “Mission: Impossible III,” a movie credited with rejuvenating the franchise.

Two films from that era that I remember most fondly, though, are his Japanese period piece “The Last Samurai” and the “War of the Worlds” remake. Both films have received mixed reception, but I found them to be strong pictures.

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Phase 4 shows the MCU is running on empty

No, I’m not being paid by Warner Bros. or DC to write this.

Honestly, for the longest time I rejected this notion. Marvel Studios had a really good track record here at this site. Aside from “Thor: The Dark World,” most entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe received a 3 out of 5 or higher from yours truly.

For those who may not know, that’s enough to get a “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. That was true right up through the summer of 2019.

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Three recent times Cage was perfectly cast

The release of “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” where Nicolas Cage will play himself, is right around the corner and I’m quite excited for it.

While, admittedly, I’ve been hard on Cage at times for some of his less than stellar filmography entries, I remain intrigued whenever I see him in a cast lineup. There’s always a chance that he can give a really memorable performance.

That happened in 2021, when he gave a performance that was absolutely snubbed by the Academy in the film “Pig.” I have to say I was proud of my fellow Minnesota film critics for awarding him the Best Actor award for the portrayal.

That’s not the only time Cage has fit a character so well in the last decade, though. Here are some other times that the actor was perfectly cast for a role, and delivered a solid performance.

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2022 Oscar Docs: A Look at the Nominees

The 94th Academy Awards ceremony is right around the corner and five movies from across the planet are up for top prize Sunday night.

As award season is wrapping up, I caught all of this year’s nominees for Best Documentary Feature and had some thoughts about each one. Of all the nominees, I enjoyed “Summer of Soul” the most, but there are certainly others I’d recommend, too.

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Seven non-scary films to enjoy during fall

Autumn has officially started and horror movie season is approaching with Halloween on the horizon.

With that said, not all films watched during the fall months have to be scary. There are plenty out there from other genres that are great to watch in September, October and November, and I’ve included some of my favorites here.

Just as a note, one of my favorite parts of fall is the sport of football being played. However, I didn’t want to get this list too bogged down and have it become a sports movie column. I did write a piece about good college football films, though, which you can read here.

With that said, here’s the list.
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2021 Summer Movie Awards

After a summer blockbuster season at home, audiences were able to return to something closer to normal in 2021 with a mix of digital and theatrical releases.

Great movies were available both at home and the cinema in the last several months and with the season now over, it’s time to look back and give credit to the best of them.

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