Great Movies
TV/Streaming
Home Entertainment Guide: November 14, 2019
The latest on Blu-ray and streaming includes Good Boys, Hobbs & Shaw, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
The latest on Blu-ray and streaming includes Good Boys, Hobbs & Shaw, and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
An article about the African American Film Critics Association's (AAFCA) Honorees at the Special Achievement Awards Luncheon to be held on Saturday, April 11th, 2020 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.
A tribute to the late, great John Singleton.
Marie writes: If I have a favorite festival, it's SXSW and which is actually a convergence of film, music and emerging technologies. However it's the festival's penchant for screening "quirky" Indie movies which really sets my heart pounding and in anticipation of seeing the next Wes Anderson or Charlie Kaufman. So from now until March, I'll be tracking down the best with the zeal of a Jack Russell terrier! Especially since learning that Joss Whedon's modern B/W take on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" is set to screen at SXSW 2013 in advance of its June 21st US release date; they'll cut an official trailer soon, rubbing hands together!
Marie writes: There's a glorified duck pond at the center of the complex where I live. And since moving in, my apartment has been an object of enduring fascination for Canadian geese - who arrive each Spring like a squadron of jet fighters returning from a mission in France, to run a sweeping aerial recon my little garden aka: playhouse for birds... (click to enlarge)
Marie writes: Doug Foster is a filmmaker and artist who produces large scale digital film installations that often play with ideas of symmetry and optical illusion. His piece The Heretics' Gate is currently on view at "Daydreaming with... St. Michael's" - an exhibition taking place at St. Michael's church in Camden, London. Note: Foster's piece first appeared at the Hell's Half Acre exhibition at the Old Vic Tunnels in London in 2010."The Heretics' Gate" draws inspiration from Dante's Inferno, the first part of his epic poem The Divine Comedy. A twenty foot high, arched screen and a thirty foot long reflecting pool, are cleverly combined to deliver a mesmerizing and strangely ethereal vision of hell at the central focus point of the church's imposing gothic architecture. To learn more, visit: Liquid Hell: A Q&A With Doug Foster.NOTE: The exhibition is the latest installment in renowned British music producer James Lavelle's curatorial and collaborative art venture, "DAYDREAMING WITH..." - a unique and visceral new exhibition experience, inspired by the desire to marry music and visual art. The goal is to bring together some of the most acclaimed creative names working in music, art, film, fashion and design.
Q. I noticed in your review of "Annapolis" some errors and maybe a misperception of what the Naval Academy is about. Tyrese Gibson plays Midshipman Lieutenant Cole; he is not a "drill sergeant" and is not "on loan to the academy." Prior-enlisted Marines and sailors are a regular occurrence at USNA. I think, however, that your misperception of the Naval Academy illustrates what any other viewer would think and how the filmmakers didn't care about detail or a well-made story. Why make a movie about a unique institution like the United States Naval Academy if you can't do it right?
As an avid reader of your internet column and a Naval Academy Midshipman, I thought it necessary for me to respond to your experience of "Annapolis," a movie that I might find more pertinent and tangible. As a Brigade, we looked forward to the first feature presentation of the United States Naval Academy since the days of black and white film. The day the trailer came out on Touchstone Pictures' webpage, it took up to thirty minutes to watch the lagging preview because virtually the whole Brigade was trying to watch. We waited those thirty minutes. We looked forward to a more realistic portrayal of this institution, or, at the very least, a popcorn movie that showed bells and whistles, something like "Top Gun." Neither was our fortune. Granted, the movie was enjoyable to watch. Base a feature film on your school and you'll like watching it, no matter how clichéd or trite it might be. Add to the fact that the theater in Annapolis, Maryland for the 7:30 P.M. showing was sold out since 10:00 A.M., and ninety percent of the attendees were Midshipmen, you enjoy it just for the company. Other than being mildly entertained, there are few to no Midshipmen that I have talked to that thought it was a good movie. This has less to do with details the director didn't feel necessary to include and that "Annapolis" was filmed in Philadelphia: the screenplay was shallow, the dialogue was stilted and forced, and the direction was sloppy and indifferent.
