Review: "The King" Finds Chalamet as a Mediocre Ruler

Scene from The King (2019)

For those with a Netflix subscription, this Oscar season has been extremely fun to witness from your home. This season has lead to some exciting results, whether The Laundromat, the Breaking Bad film El Camino, or the Eddie Murphy comeback vehicle Dolemite is My Name. If there's a box that needs to be checked off, the streaming service has one. In their latest Oscar-push, director David Michod's The King, the studio tackles the historical drama by focusing on the exploits of King "Hal" Henry V (Timothee Chalamet), a young leader without a strong grasp on leadership. The film focuses on him taking on France in an effort for expanding his power, and the film manages to be a bit of a slog in the process. It' s a decent period piece, but far from the most entertaining film that Netflix has released in the past few weeks. 

A24 A-to-Z: #51. "It Comes at Night" (2017)

Scene from It Comes at Night

In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for ears to come.

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Black Mass" (2015)

Johnny Depp

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Theory Thursday: "Zero Dark Thirty" is the Best Movie About 9/11

Scene from Zero Dark Thirty

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Theory Thursday: "The Great Gatsby" (2013) is Underrated

Scene from The Great Gatsby

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Review: "Black Mass" is a Cliche Gangster Film with Squandered Potential By All

Johnny Depp

There is one notion that I have that has flickered in recent years: Johnny Depp is a great actor. Not in the sense that his every film he makes is a masterpiece, but that he brings something authentic to each role. Where I've seen a handful of beloveds unable to immerse themselves in a role, it is rarely true with Depp. He can be eccentric or menacing when the role calls for it. With director Scott Cooper's Black Mass, I was hoping that audiences would get to pick up on that, especially after a long stretch of clunkers best immortalized with this year's Mortdecai. However, it is only fuel for their fire. While it isn't entirely his fault, a lot of the blame for why Black Mass is an abysmal, cliche-ridden movie falls on his shoulders. He crumbles underneath with one of his least inspired performances to date.

The "Black Mass" Trailer Looks Like Depp is Trying to Impress Us Again

Johnny Depp

Here is a fact that many likely will find odd: Johnny Depp has earned three Oscar nominations - all between 2004 and 2008. For modern audiences, it is probably hard to believe that the actor behind critically panned movies like Mortdecai and Transcendence used to be one of the most interesting and rebellious mainstream actors out there. He even got an acting nomination for The Pirates of the Caribbean as Captain Jack Sparrow. While I don't feel his passion is entirely gone, there is a need for us, as well as him, to reassess his current acting career. With director Scott Cooper's Black Mass, it looks like if nothing else, he is back to giving a role that shows the edgier and more interesting side of Depp. The only question is if it will be enough.

Is "Exodus: Gods and Kings" the Surprise Best Picture Nominee?

Christian Bale

There is a particular question that should be raised when discussing director Ridley Scott: what happened? For starters, the director is one of the few distinguished faces to innovate technology over the course of his long career. He is important in that way. However, he also used to direct amazing movies that were Best Picture worthy. In one such case, he won Best Picture with Gladiator, which saw a perfect blend of visual effects and swords and sandals epics. Since, he hasn't been too noteworthy in this case and with the back-to-back maligned films of Prometheus and The Counselor, there looks to be some dismay in him ever returning to the Best Picture race. That is, until Exodus: Gods and Kings comes out this December. With its big effects and lead by Oscar winner Christian Bale (Best Supporting Actor - The Fighter), it does seem like he is striving for that title.

Review: "The Great Gatsby" is a Great Looking Luhrmann Film but a Decent Fitzgerald Adaptation

Leonardo DiCaprio

One of the most iconic tales in American literature is F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." Symbolizing the American dream and the right to throw lavish parties, the story has withstood the test of time, many adaptations, and has even entered the lexicon of high standards for the medium. Yet, there seems to be little in the way of producing a top notch adaptation, which may be to the book's credit, though also can be seen as a challenge. Still, is it possible that director Baz Luhrmann has found the formula and made the ultimate adaptation with a star-studded cast?

Review: "Zero Dark Thirty" is the Great War on Terror Epic We Deserve

Upon initial release, director Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty looked like a clear front runner for Best Picture. After winning big with the  New York Film Critics Awards, the film has dispersed a little. After a not-so-stellar performance at the Golden Globes, it has fallen behind titles such as director Ben Affleck's Argo, a film which many cannot help but compare vaguely. Maybe it was the violent subject matter of torture and endless disputes brought forth by former CIA agents criticizing the realism. Then again, what stopped director Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained from losing steam for being a more hyper-violent (and frankly, a little shoddy) story? However, say what you will, but what Bigelow has produced is a masterpiece in the War on Terror genre of film making.

The "Zero Dark Thirty" Trailer Shows a Best Picture Nominee Coming out of Hiding

Up to this point, there has been little knowledge of what director Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty actually looked like. Being touted as "the Osama bin Laden" movie, it has been kept under wraps in ways that reflected the subject matter. The most that had been seen was a teaser trailer in which a voice screams "When was the last time you saw bin Laden?" over and over. Not too effective, but clarified that it was in deed about bin Laden. However, with a full length trailer and some actual plot revealed, does Bigelow's follow-up to Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker stand a chance of continuing to turn current events into big prize winners?