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.

Continue reading “2023 Summer Movie Awards”

The End of the Beginning: My hometown theater, Cine 5, closes

UPDATE: Since the closure, Cine 5 has reopened and is back in operation. I’m so thankful for that development. I plan to keep this piece up as a tribute to the theater and as a reminder of the importance of theaters in smaller communities.

For a film buff, living near a movie theater is a great bit of geographic luck.

That’s what I had growing up in International Falls, Minn. From when I was born until I moved away for college, I never lived more than a block or two away from the local theater, the Cine 5.

Sadly, like I’ve done twice already on this site, I’m having to write a farewell piece to place I spent countless hours and created numerous memories. The Cine 5 closed recently, marking the end of another theater that I attended.

Continue reading “The End of the Beginning: My hometown theater, Cine 5, closes”

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.
Continue reading “2023 Oscar Docs: A Look at the Nominees”

95th Academy Award Predictions

Tomorrow, 2022 in film will formerly come to an end, as movies from last year are awarded throughout the night with Oscar statues.

Like most years, there are clear front-runners, close races, and snubs, all of which this post will break down.

Continue reading “95th Academy Award Predictions”

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.

Continue reading “Bowl Season Counterparts in Film Awards”

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.

Continue reading “2022 Summer Movie Awards”

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.

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

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.

Continue reading “Phase 4 shows the MCU is running on empty”

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.

Continue reading “Three recent times Cage was perfectly cast”

94th Academy Award Predictions

The Gotham Award nominations came out in late October. Nearly five months later, we’re finally toward the conclusion of the 2021-2022 award season.

It’s been an entertaining season for sure, with the Best Picture front-runner shifting a lot, from “Belfast,” to “The Power of the Dog” and now, seemingly, “CODA.” We’ll know the winner of this category and all the others on Sunday during the Academy Awards ceremony.

Until then, we can only predict what will happen. So here are my predictions for who will win on Sunday, who could maybe play spoiler, my choices for who should get the Oscar and a few snubs.

Continue reading “94th Academy Award Predictions”