Negromancer News Bits and Bites from July 1st to 11th, 2026 - UPDATE #11

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).

TREATS: From AnotherCookie?:  There is a new online cookie retailer, "AnotherCookie?" The cookies are delicious.

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NEWS:

STAGE - From Deadline:  Dwayne Johnson says that he has been working on a revival of the Broadway classic, "The Odd Couple," with friend Kevin Hart has his costar.  "The Odd Couple" is a play written by the late Neil Simon (1927-2018) that premiered on Broadway in 1965.

EMMYS - From Variety:  The nominations for the 2026 / 78th Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS).  Honoring the best of American primetime television, the eligibility period covers June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026.  The winners of the 78th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards will be announced September 5 and 6, 2026.  The winners at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced during a ceremony on September 14, 2026.  The HBO Max medical drama, "The Pitt," leads with 25 nominations.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Jennifer Beals, Jacqueline Byers, Shane Harper, and Devin Druid are join LL Cool J and Scott Caan in "NCIS: New York."

MOVIES - From WorldofReel:  Director, co-writer, producer, and star Bradley Cooper's "Ocean's Eleven" prequel, adds new cast.  Joining the film are Vicky Krieps, Omar Sy, George Mackay, and Lauren Ridloff.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 7/3 to 7/5/2026 weekend box office is Universal/Illumination Entertainment's "Minions & Monsters" with an estimated take of 36.4 million dollars.

AMAZON-MGM - From TheWrap:  Michael Mann will start shooting "Heat 2," the prequel and sequel to his 1995 film, "Heat," in November.  Christian Bale will play "Vincent Hanna," the dogged LAPD Robbery Homicide detective played by Al Pacino in the original film, while Leonard DiCaprio will play Chris Shiherlis, who was played by the late Val Kilmer.  The film was picked up by Amazom MGM Studios after Warner Bros. dropped out because of the film's budget.

AMAZON - From Deadline:  The recent Ryan Gosling super-hit, "Project Hail Mary," arrives on Amazon Prime Video Friday, July 3rd, 2026.

CELEBRITY - From Variety:  Revered film actor and five-time Emmy nominated television actor, Danny Glover, has revealed that he has been living with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years.  In an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, Glover revealed that he was diagnosed shortly before he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which bestows the Academy Awards/Oscars.

MOVIES - From WorldofReel:  Director David Robert Mitchell is prepping "They Follow," the sequel to his 2014 horror film, "It Follows."  His composer on the original film, Disasterpeace," is returning for the sequel.

OBITS:

From THR:  The American television, film, and theater actor, Randolph Mantooth, has died at the age of 80, Thursday, July 9, 2026.  Mantooth was best known for the role of "Johnny Gage," on the former NBC action-adventure, medical drama, "Emergency!" (1972-77), and in six TV movies based on the series in 1978 and 1979.  He was a prolific guest star in numerous TV series from the 1970s into the 2000s.  Mantooth also had roles in several daytime soap operas, including two stints on the former ABC soap opera, "Loving" (1987-90, 1993-95).  He also appeared in "General Hospital" and "As the World Turns."

From Variety:  Welsh singer, songwriter, and recording artist, Bonnie Tyler, has died at the age of 75, Wednesday, July 8, 2026.  Tyler is best known for her 1983 #1 hit, "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and "Holding Out for a Hero," which was included on the soundtrack of the 1984 hit film, "Footloose."  Her other big U.S. hit was the 1977 single, "It's a Heartache."  Tyler was a three-time Grammy Award nominee.

From People:  American television producer and writer, Wilford Lloyd Baumes, has died at the age of 86, Sunday, June 28, 2026.  Baumes created the long-running former ABC romantic comedy-drama, "The Love Boat" (1977-86).  Baumes was also a producer on Season 1 of the former ABC superhero drama, "Wonder Woman" (1976-77) and an executive producer on the first six episodes of Season 2 (1977).

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 21st to 30th, 2026 - UPDATE #9

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

Amazon wants me to inform/remind you that any affiliate links found on this page are PAID ADS, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on affiliate links like this, MOVIES PAGE, and BUY something(s).

TREATS: From AnotherCookie?:  There is a new online cookie retailer, "AnotherCookie?" The cookies are delicious.

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NEWS:

STREAMING - From Deadline:  After several weeks of rumors, backstage drama, firings, etc., Tom Hardy is returning for Season 3 of the Paramount+ crime drama, "MobLand."

BUSINESS - From THR:  Comcast has announced plans to separate its tech business from NBCUniversal, including its European media business, "Sky."  The move, which will take place in 2027, will create two companies  Last year, Comcast did a spinoff of NBCUniversal's cable units, including CNBC and MSNBC, into a new company, Versant.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 6/26 to 6/28/2026 weekend box office is Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story 5" with an estimated take 70 million dollars.

NETFLIX - From Variety:  Once at odds, "Stranger Things" star, Millie Bobbi Brown and David Harbour will reunite for a new Netflix series about father-daughter spies. The new series comes from Jack Thorne, the creator of Netflix hits, "Adolescence" and "Lord of the Flies."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Focus Features has dropped a first-look image of star Aaron Taylor-Johnson in director Robert Eggers' "Werwulf," which is due Dec. 25th, 2026.

AMAZON - From Deadline:  Deadline's rumor column, "The Dish," says that the next round of auditions to choose an actor to play "James Bond" for Amazon MGM Studios and director Denis Villeneuve takes place in August 2026.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 6/19 to 6/21/2026 weekend box office is Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story 5" with an estimated take of 160 million dollars.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Peacock has given a straight-to-series order to "Dungeon Crawler Carl," a live-action series adaptation of Matt Dinniman’s popular science fantasy "LitRPG" (role-playing game) books of the same title. The project comes from Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door and Universal Global Television. Dinniman, who serves as co-executive producer on the series, announced the pickup on social media.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  American visual effects artist, Jeff Olson, has died at the age of 77, Sunday, June 21, 2026.  Olson is best known for his work with Industrial Light and Magic (ILM).  Olson started at ILM in 1985 and early on was a model maker on such films as "Howard the Duck" (1986), "Willow" (1988), "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988), and "Ghostbusters II" (1989), to name a few.  Olson received his first "visual effects producer" credit on "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996), and received the credit on such films as "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" (1999), "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (2003), "Eragon" (2006), and "Star Trek" (2009), to name a few.  Olson left ILM in 2009.

From RollingStone:  American music and record executive and record producer, Clive Davis, has died at the age of 94, Monday, June 22, 2026.  Clive Davis founded Arista Records and J Records  He helped shape the careers of legendary recording artists such as Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Carlos Santana, Janis Joplin, Barry Manilow, and Alicia Keys, to name a few.  As a record producer, Davis won five Grammy Awards, including "Album of the Year" (1994) for Whitney Houston's "The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album" (1992).  Davis was inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in 2000 as a non-performer.

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Cinemark Theaters to Screen Acclaimed Films During "Oscar Movie Week"

Hollywood’s Elite Films Shine at Cinemark’s Nationwide Oscar® Movie Week Festival

Exhibitor to offer fan-favorite all-inclusive festival passes alongside individual tickets for moviegoers to see Oscar® film nominees in the immersive, cinematic environment.

This year’s program is presented by Focus Features’ upcoming film “Black Bag,” a spy drama from acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh which hits theaters on March 14, 2025.

PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cinemark Holdings, Inc., one of the largest and most influential theatrical exhibition companies in the world, is bringing the most prestigious Hollywood films of 2024 to big screens across the nation with the return of its annual Oscar® Movie Week festival.

In theaters from Monday, Feb. 24 through Sunday, March 2, 2025, Oscar® Movie Week offers movie buffs the chance to experience Best Picture as well as Live Action and Animated Short Film nominees in the incomparable immersive, cinematic environment only a movie theater can provide.

This year’s festival is presented by Focus Features’ upcoming film, "Black Bag," and will offer a convenient, all-inclusive festival pass that will include all participating nominees, as well as single showtime tickets for those interested in select titles. The festival is being held at more than 120 participating Cinemark theaters nationwide in advance of the 97th Oscars®, which airs March 2, 2025 on ABC and will be streamed live on Hulu. Festival passes are on sale now at Cinemark.com/movieweek with individual showtime tickets going on sale Jan. 29.

“The Oscars® are about celebrating the art of cinema, and there's no better way to experience the year’s most accoladed Hollywood content than alongside other fans in one of our auditoriums with sight and sound technology that cannot be replicated at home”

"The Oscars® are about celebrating the art of cinema, and there's no better way to experience the year’s most accoladed Hollywood content than alongside other fans in one of our auditoriums with sight and sound technology that cannot be replicated at home,” said Cinemark Chief Marketing and Content Officer Wanda Gierhart Fearing. “We’re thrilled to bring Oscar® Movie Week back to Cinemark with our highly sought after festival passes, offering moviegoers the chance to catch these prestigious films on the big screen before the must-see awards ceremony.”

In addition to the festival pass, which is on sale now, individual tickets will go on sale for each title beginning Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. Tickets for the feature-length Best Picture nominees are available at standard pricing, with showtimes beginning on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. All Live Action and Animated Short Film nominees are bundled into one $10 viewing, available Friday, February 28 through Sunday, March 2, 2025. Oscar® Movie Week attendees can get star-studded savings with 50 percent off any size popcorn at participating Cinemark theaters during the run of the program.

Those wanting to have a red carpet-worthy watch party at home for Hollywood’s biggest night, Cinemark’s nationwide delivery partnerships with DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats will ensure you have the best in movie snacks to go alongside the best in entertainment. Visit https://www.cinemark.com/food-drink/delivery for more information on available options and participating locations.

For more details on Oscar® Movie Week, including participating theaters, showtimes and how to purchase tickets, visit Cinemark.com/movieweek.

About Black Bag:

From Director Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse and his beloved wife Kathryn. When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country. The film stars Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, and Pierce Brosnan.

About Cinemark Holdings, Inc.:

Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK) provides extraordinary out-of-home entertainment experiences as one of the largest and most influential theatrical exhibition companies in the world. Based in Plano, Texas, Cinemark makes every day cinematic for moviegoers across nearly 500 theaters and more than 5,500 screens, operating in 42 states in the U.S. (306 theaters; 4,282 screens) and 13 South and Central American countries (193 theaters; 1,398 screens). Cinemark offers guests superior sight and sound technology, including Barco laser projection and Cinemark XD, the world’s No. 1 exhibitor-branded premium large format; industry-leading penetration of upscale amenities such as expanded food and beverage offerings, Luxury Lounger recliners and D-BOX motion seats; top-notch guest service; and award-winning loyalty programs such as Cinemark Movie Club. All of this creates an immersive environment for a shared, entertaining escape, underscoring that there is no place more cinematic than Cinemark. For more information, visit https://ir.cinemark.com.

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USC Libraries Announces Finalists for the 2025 Scripter Awards

USC Libraries Name Finalists for 37th-Annual Scripter Awards

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The USC Libraries named the finalists for the 37th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards, which honor the writers of the year’s most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations, as well as the writers of the works on which they are based.

The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:

-- James Mangold and Jay Cocks for “A Complete Unknown” based on the nonfiction book “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties” by Elijah Wald

Peter Straughan for “Conclave” based on the novel by Robert Harris

-- RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes for “Nickel Boys” based on the book “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead

-- Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar (screenplay and story) and Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield (story) for “Sing Sing” based on the “Esquire” magazine article “The Sing Sing Follies” by John H. Richardson

--  Screenwriter Chris Sanders and novelist Peter Brown for “The Wild Robot”

The finalist writers for episodic series are, in alphabetical order by series title:

-- Richard Gadd for the sixth episode of “Baby Reindeer,” based on his stage play of the same name

-- Steven Zaillian for “V Lucio,” the fifth episode of “Ripley,” based on “The Talented Mr. Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith

-- Joshua Zetumer for the episode “The People in the Dirt” from “Say Nothing,” based on the nonfiction book “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland” by Patrick Radden Keefe

-- Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks for “Anjin,” the first episode of “Shōgun,” based on the novel by James Clavell

-- Will Smith for the episode “Hello Goodbye,” from “Slow Horses,” based on the novel “Spook Street” by Mick Herron

The 2025 Scripter selection committee selected the finalists from a field of 42 film and 66 episodic series adaptations. Howard Rodman, USC professor and Vice President/Secretary of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, chairs the 2025 committee.

The studios distributing the finalist films and current publishers of the printed works are:

“A Complete Unknown”—Searchlight Pictures and Dey Street Books

“Conclave”—Focus Features and Vintage Books

“Nickel Boys”—Amazon MGM Studios and Vintage Books

“Sing Sing”—A24 and Esquire

“The Wild Robot”—Universal Pictures and Little, Brown and Company

The networks and streaming platforms broadcasting the finalist episodic series and current publishers of the works are:

“Baby Reindeer”—Netflix and Methuen Drama

“Ripley”—Netflix and Vintage Books

“Say Nothing”—FX/Hulu and Vintage Books

“Shōgun”—FX/Hulu and Blackstone Publishing

“Slow Horses”—Apple TV+ and Soho Crime

The USC Libraries will announce the winning authors and screenwriters at a black-tie ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, in the Town & Gown ballroom at the University of Southern California.

Since 1988, Scripter has honored the authors of original works alongside the screenwriters who adapt their stories. For more information about Scripter, including ticket availability, please email scripter@usc.edu or visit scripter.usc.edu.

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Review: "NOSFERATU" 2024: You'll Either Be Impressed or Roll Your Eyes

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 61 of 2024 (No. 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Nosferatu (2024)

Running time:  133 minutes (2 hours, 13 minutes)

MPA – R for bloody violent content, graphic nudity and some sexual content

DIRECTOR:  Robert Eggers

WRITER:  Robert Eggers (inspired by the film, Nosferatu, and the novel by Bram Stoker)

PRODUCERS:  Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus, Robert Eggers, John Graham, and Jeff Robinov

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jarin Blaschke (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Louise Ford

COMPOSER:  Robin Carolan

HORROR/THRILLER

Starring:  Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgard, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, and Simon McBurney

SUMMARY OF THE REVIEW:

Nosferatu is entertaining – in places, but quite a bit of it is also over-the-top and overdone. Honestly, I'd be reluctant to recommend it to people who don't go to movie theaters too often because they could find better films upon which to spend their infrequent cinema visits

Nepo-baby thespian, Lily-Rose Depp, gives an excellent performance, emphasizing facial expressions and physical feats, but Bill Skarsgard as the Nosferatu, manages only to create a vampire that is as boring as he is scary and ugly

Also, if you remember Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film, Bram Stoker's Dracula, you will find this film shockingly similar to it

Nosferatu is a 2024 American vampire horror film from writer-director Robert Eggers  It is a remake of the 1922 German silent film, Nosferatu.  Like that German film, the modern Nosferatu also takes inspiration from the 1897 novel Dracula, written by author Bram Stoker.  The new Nosferatu focuses on a young woman and the terrifying vampire that is infatuated with her.

Nosferatu introduces Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp).  Since she was a child, Ellen has had a connection to the spiritual and mystical realms.  When she was a girl, she called out to a spirit, and that caused her to have a vision of a disfigured and corpse-like creature attack her.  This in turns leads to Ellen having a violent seizure.

In 1838, Ellie is now an adult and is newly wed to a husband, the young estate agent, Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult).  The couple is living in Wisborg, Germany where Thomas works for “Knock & Associates.”  His employer, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), offers Thomas a generous commission, but to get it, Thomas must embark on a six-day journey to the small country of Transylvania.

There, Thomas will meet the mysterious Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard), who wants to buy property in Wisborg, which he plans to make his new home.  However, there is a conspiracy behind this business venture between Knock and Orlok, and Ellen, who is once again besieged by dark, monster-filled dreams, is the prize.  Now, Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz (Willem Defoe), a controversial scientist and expert on the occult and mysticism, may be the only one who can figure out what everyone else seems to ignore.  And that is the fact that Orlok is a monstrous vampire – a Nosferatu!

First, some history: director F.W. Murnau's 1922 German silent film, Nosferatu, was an unauthorized film adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula (1897).  Stoker's heirs sued and the film was ordered destroyed, but several prints survived this purge.  So the modern Nosferatu is both a remake of the 1922 film and an adaptation of Stoker's novel.  I also find quite a bit of this new Nosferatu to be a literally and spiritually rehash of director Francis Ford Coppola's visionary, Oscar-winning film, Bram Stokers Dracula (1992).

Moving on:  Lily-Rose Depp delivers a stunning performance as Ellen, one that is both emotionally charged and also physically impressive, thanks to the scenes in which she portrays having blood-curdling seizures, apparently without the help of computer-generated imagery.  Depp makes by far the best out of director Robert Eggers' screenplay, which I find to be shallow and also imaginative only in the superficial way that directors borrow from other directors' films in a bid to seem clever before their sycophants and devotees.

That is exemplified by Bill Skarsgard's Count Orlok.  He is both frightening and tedious.  Skarsgard is buried under a mound of makeup and likely computer-rendering that makes him look like a homeless and destitute version of the infamous Russian mystic and political Svengali, Grigori Rasputin.  The new Count Orlok is a scary mountain of monster-man, but he has no personality,  And girl, he grunts his garbled dialogue real good.  Ultimately, Skarsgard turn as Count Orlok is no better than one of actor Robert Englund's latter turns as “Freddy Krueger” in one of the many sequels to A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

Eggers really does not give the rest of his characters great dramatic material.  Nicholas Hoult's Thomas Hutter is an embarrassing crybaby, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Friedrich Harding is a stubborn moron.  Willem Defoe's Von Franz is smart and stupid in alternating waves that suggest that suggests he was created by some AI algorithm.  Emma Corrin's Anna Harding (Friedrich's wife) seems very smart and capable, so the male writer's screenplay kills her off way too early.

Yeah, I have a lot of complaints about this new Nosferatu, mainly because it is one of those maddening films that has many brilliant elements that are beset by many tedious, hilarious, and ridiculous elements.  This is not “style over substance,” but it is style strangling the shit out of substance.  I heartily recommend Nosferatu to fans of vampire films and to adventurous movie lovers, but I would be reluctant to recommend it to people who are not as into movies as I am.  Something like Nosferatu would make them roll their eyes.

6 of 10

B

★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, December 27, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Terrific and Amazing "ARMAGEDDON TIME" Doesn't Have Time for Sentimentality

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 of 2023 (No. 1904) by Leroy Douresseaux

Armageddon Time (2022)

Running time:  114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)

MPA – R for language and some drug use involving minors

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  James Gray

PRODUCERS:  Marc Butan, James Gray, Anthony Katagas, and Rodrigo Teixeira

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Darius Khondji

EDITOR:  Scott Morris

COMPOSER:  Christopher Spelman

DRAMA

Starring:  Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Sell, Andrew Polk, Tovah Feldshuh, Marcia Haufrecht, Teddy Coluca, Richard Bekins, Dane West, Landon James Forlenza, John Diehl, and Jessica Chastain

Armageddon Time is a 2022 coming-of-age drama film from writer-director James Gray.  The film is inspired by Gray's childhood experiences growing up in Queens, New York.  Armageddon Time is a coming-of-age story about family and about the American Dream and who can have it.

Armageddon Time opens in Queens, New York City, 1980.  It introduces Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a Jewish-American boy who is entering sixth grade at Public School (P.S.) 173.  He befriends Johnny (Jaylin Webb), a rebellious African-American classmate.  Johnny was held back a year and gets harsher treatment from their teacher, a white man named Mr. Turkeltaub (Andrew Polk), when they both joke around in class.  Paul is interested in becoming an artist, and he often disassociates from his schoolwork and draws pictures instead.

Paul lives with his somewhat financially stable family of Jewish heritage.  His parents, mother Esther (Anne Hathaway), and father Irving Graff (Jeremy Strong), are well-meaning, but are strict.  His older brother, Ted (Ryan Sell), teases him.  Irving has a temper and is prone to hit his children, especially Paul, who exasperates him.  Esther and Irving discourage Paul's artistic ambitions, but his maternal grandfather, Aaron Rabinowitz (Anthony Hopkins), encourages him.

However, Paul begins to discover the harsh reality of life.  Aaron tells Paul of how his own mother escaped antisemitic persecution and pogroms in Ukraine, eventually landing in London before coming to the United States.  Paul gets into trouble with Johnny and ends up at the private school, Forest Manor Prep School, while Johnny quits school and deals with the foster care officials who are looking for him.  Although Paul lives in a world privilege, he is forced to confront family troubles and a world of inequality and privilege.

I am totally in love with Armageddon Time, although I'm not as in love with its title.  This is also the first film directed by James Gray that I have watched.  The film takes its title from a 1979 single by the British band, “The Clash,” entitled “Armagideon Time.”  It is a cover version of the same song by Jamaican reggae musician, William Williams, that was also released in 1979.  Armageddon Time also includes a few scenes featuring a fictional version of Fred J. Trump, Donald Trump's father, and one scene featuring Maryanne Trump, Donald's sister.  Character actor John Diehl plays Fred, who is a famous businessman and financier/patron of Forest Manor in this film, in all his real-life sleazy glory.

Jessica Chastain is superb in her one scene as Maryanne, who is portrayed in Armageddon Time as a United States Attorney and as one of Forest Manor's most famous alumni.  [In reality, Maryanne Trump was an Assistant United States Attorney in 1980 and would go on to be a United States federal judge from 1983 to 2019.]

James Gray's inclusion of the Trumps, who were part of the world in which Gray grew up, his unflinching desire that Armageddon Time not be nostalgic or sentimental.  Gray presents Paul Graff as a kid who lives inside a bubble – an idealized version of the world.  Paul's estimation of his family's worth and social position are larger and more grand than they really are.  The film's narrative acts not only to wise-up the naive Paul, but to also fill in the gaps of his knowledge of how the world operates – its unfair racial inequality and its propensity to hand out “raw deals.”

If Armageddon Time has a dominant theme, it is that one must survive to have a good life.  If this film has one big fault, it is that Paul's black friend, Johnny, flits through the story as if he were a ghost or a wraith, when it seems obvious that he is very important to the narrative, the plot, and the resolution.

Gray's cast is a big part of why this film really works.  First, Anne Hathaway is so beautiful that even as a harried mother and housewife and worried daughter, she is radiant.  Jeremy Strong is Oscar-worthy as a hard-working, beat-his-kids-asses, Jewish dad.  Ryan Sell strikes the right notes in a small role as Paul's brother, Ted.  Banks Repeta as Paul and Jaylin Webb as Johnny really sell a friendship that, on the surface, seems like it could not, would not, and should not work.  [I think this entire cast would soar even higher if this story were told as television series.]

I would be remiss if I did not mention Anthony Hopkins as Paul's grandfather, Aaron.  This film would not work without him.  Armageddon Time is one of the few coming-of-age films that I have seen that absolutely refuses to be sentimental and is zealously free of nostalgia.  In Aaron, Gray embodies the film's desire to eschew good and evil in favor of depicting survival versus unfairness, inequality, and callousness.  Hopkins conveys in Aaron the good sense that Paul lacks and must learn, which is to figure out when to fit in and when to fight.

I had not heard of Armageddon Time until I was perusing the “Charter on Demand” channel of my Spectrum cable account.  The trailer for this film that Charter was showing was quite convincing, and I felt as if I had to see Armageddon Time because it was made for me.  I hope that James Gray is able to go ahead with plans to direct a semi-sequel to this film, using much of the same cast.  Even if that does not happen, Armageddon Time is a gem, a blunt and genuine coming-of-age story that willingly embraces the truth that growing pains are indeed painful.

9 of 10

A+

★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Monday, March 27, 2023

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "HONK FOR JESUS. SAVE YOUR SOUL." is Both Funny and Ruthless

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 of 2023 (No. 1891) by Leroy Douresseaux

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul (2022)

Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)

MPA – R for language and some sexual content

DIRECTOR:  Adamma Ebo

WRITER: Adamma Ebo (based on her short film)

PRODUCERS:  Sterling K. Brown, Jessamine Burgum, Matthew R. Cooper, Amandla Crichlow, Kara Durrett, Adanne Ebo, Regina Hall, Daniel Kaluuya, and Rowan Riley

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Alan Gwizdowski

EDITORS:  Ali Greer and Stacy Moon

COMPOSER:  Marcus Norris

COMEDY/RELIGION

Starring:  Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown, Nicole Beharie, Conphidance, Austin Crute, Dever Rogers, Robert Yatta, Greta Glenn, and Selah Kimbro Jones

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is a 2022 comedy-drama and mockumentary (mock documentary) film from writer-director Adamma Ebo.  The film is Ebo's directorial debut and is also a feature-length adaptation of Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul, her 2018 short film.  Oscar-winner Jordan Peele is one of the film's executive producers.  Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. the film focuses on the first lady of a megachurch as she attempts to help the pastor of the church rebuild his congregation in the wake of a scandal.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is largely set in and around Wander to Greater Paths Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia.  The film introduces Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife, the church's “First Lady,” Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall).  Lee-Curtis preaches the “prosperity gospel,” and he and his wife live a lavish lifestyle that is a big as their megachurch.

Once upon a time, Wander to Greater Paths (WGP) had about 25,000 congregants, but Pastor Lee-Curtis became embroiled in a notorious scandal that involves multiple sexual misconduct allegations.  Lee-Curtis and Trinitie were forced to close the church after backlash and a mass exodus of congregants.

Now, a year later, the Childs plan to reopen the church in one month on Easter Sunday.  They have also hired a documentary film crew to chronicle their lives and the preparation during the run-up to the reopening.  However, Trinitie finds the crew and its director, Anita Bonet, to be intrusive.  Also, the Childs struggle to get people interested in their return, so Lee-Curtis comes up with an idea for a roadside ministry, entitled “Honk for Jesus.”  Will that scheme save the church … and the couple's marriage?

Some of you, dear readers, are familiar Pentecostal televangelist (television evangelist), Jimmy Swaggart.  Beginning in 1988, a series of scandals, two of them involving Swaggart's relationship with prostitutes, caused him to lose a significant number of congregants at his megachurch, Family Worship Center, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  His Jimmy Swaggart Bible College also saw a drastic drop in enrollment, largely in part to his 1988 sex scandal.

A former coworker of mine was a devout Christian, and he considered Swaggart to be a hypocrite because of his scandals.  I told him that I did not quite see it that way.  I argued that the most successful evangelical preachers were probably intimately familiar with sin, especially related to sexual activity.  I said that what made Swaggart a hypocrite wasn't him sneaking around for some kind of sexual contact with a prostitute, but rather that he frequently condemned people who were engaged in sexual activity of which he did not approve.  He insisted that other sinners pay a price for sexual improprieties that he clearly did not expect to pay himself.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is not the greatest mockumentary (which is still This is Spinal Tap), but it is a very good comedy about characters that are difficult when laid bare.  Honk for Jesus. Save You Soul. makes it clear that the Childs, especially Pastor Lee-Curtis, are oblivious and lack self-awareness.  Lee-Curtis condemns those engaged in the same kind of sexual activity which brought him down, and his behavior is also predatory.  It is not just the nature of his sin; it is also that he betrayed the trust of the people who relied on him for help.

Sterling K. Brown shines as Pastor Lee-Curtis, depicting him not as evil, but as narcissistic, vain, and material.  His faith, God, the Bible, and his success are about himself and not about salvation or about “saving souls.”  He collects “saving souls” and congregants seemingly the same way he collects Italian suits and clothing, jewelry, and cars.  Brown deftly conveys to the audience that the reopening of Wander to Great Paths is all about shining on Lee-Curtis and not necessarily on God.

I think the film really turns on Regina Hall's performance, a mixture of comedy, drama, and pathos.  From start to finish, Hall's performance chronicles the difficulty that is Trinitie's mission to save their church.  Although she is known for comedy, Hall shows serious dramatic chops in conveying the ultimate futility of the couple's quest, especially in those painful scenes in which she faces either their detractors or Lee-Curtis' victims.

Mock or faux documentary films are generally comedies, although they have dramatic and poignant moments.  Writer-director Adamma Ebo pulls off the trick of producing a mockumentary that is more drama than comedy.  Getting a great performance from her cast, especially Regina Hall, is what makes Ebo's film highly original and even more substantive than mockumentary films generally are.  My take is that Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is both a portrayal of a corrupted megachurch pastor and first lady and also a commentary on the megachurches that pedal the prosperity gospel.

Mockumentary films generally always seem to be a tad bit longer than they need to be, and they are at their best in their first acts.  The best energy in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is in its second half, especially its last act.

7 of 10

B+

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: DOWNTON ABBEY: A New Era" Celebrates the New with the Old

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 43 of 2022 (No. 1855) by Leroy Douresseaux

Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
Running time: 124 minutes (2 hours, four minutes)
MPAA – PG for some suggestive references, language and thematic elements
DIRECTOR:  Simon Curtis
WRITER: Julian Fellowes (based on the television series created by Julian Fellowes)
PRODUCERS:  Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame, and Liz Trubridge
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Andrew Dunn (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Adam Recht
COMPOSER:  John Lunn

DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggatt, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Lesley Nicol, Harry Hadden-Paton, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, and Penelope Wilton with Dominic West, Hugh Dancy, Laura Haddock, Jonathan Coy, Jonathan Zaccai, and Nathalie Baye

Downton Abbey: A New Era is a 2022 historical drama film directed by Simon Curtis.  It is based on the British television series, “Downton Abbey” (ITV, 2010-15), which was created by Julian Fellowes, who also wrote the screenplay for this film.  A New Era is also a direct sequel to the 2019 film, Downton Abbey.  In A New Era, the Crawley family go on a grand journey to uncover the mysteries behind the dowager countess' recent inheritance, a villa in the south of France.

Downton Abbey: A New Era opens in 1928.  Tom Branson (Alan Leech), the son-in-law of Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham and 7th Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), is marrying Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton).  Lucy is the former maid and the recently-revealed daughter of Lady Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), and she will become the heiress to Lady Bagshaw's extensive estate.

Returning from the wedding, the Crawley family experience two big surprises.  First, they learn that Lord Grantham's mother, Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith), has inherited a villa near Toulon, in the south of France, from a gentleman she knew in the 1860s, the Marquis de Montmirail.  He has recently died, and his son, the new Marquis (Jonathan Zaccai), has invited the Crawleys to visit the villa, named “La Villa des Colombes” (the Villa of the Doves).

Violet is not well enough to travel, but she is particularly anxious for Tom and Lucy to go, because she has decided to transfer ownership of the villa to Sybbie, Tom's daughter with the late Lady Sybil Crawley.  So Lord Grantham and his wife, Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), lead a small group of family and servants to the south of France, where the late Maquis' wife, La Marquise, Madame Montmirail (Nathalie Baye), awaits them with a mind to challenge her late husband's will.

The second surprise is that a studio, British Lion, wishes to use Downton as a filming location for a silent film entitled, The Gambler.  Although Robert, Lord Grantham is initially opposed to the idea, his eldest daughter, Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery), convinces him that the money from the film could be used to replace Downton Abbey's leaky roof.

So the film crew arrives.  The members of the staff at Downton Abbey are intrigued by the chance to see the stars of the film, the leading man, Guy Dexter (Dominic West), and the leading lady, Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock).  Lady Mary appears to make an impression on the film's director, Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy), and he soon needs her help.  The Gambler is being made just as a great change is occurring in the world of cinema, one that could prematurely end production of the film.

These are just a few of the dramas and melodramas, both large and small, that threaten to upend the lives of those upstairs and downstairs at Downton Abbey.

The original television series, Downton Abbey, began airing on the British television network, ITV, in 2010 and ended in 2015, after six seasons and 52 episodes.  It aired on the American broadcast network, PBS, as part of its “Masterpiece” series from 2011-20, before moving onto streaming services, Peacock and Netflix.  The final episode of “Downton Abbey” was set on New Year's Eve, 1925.  The first film, 2019's Downton Abbey, is set in 1927, 18 months after the TV series finale.  Downton Abbey: A New Era opens in the following year and picks up on some of the plot lines from the first film.

As I wrote in my review of the first film, when I first heard of “Downton Abbey,” I mostly ignored it, although I watched a few minutes here and there.  One Sunday afternoon, however, while channel surfing, I came across the show and recognized an actor (maybe American actress Elizabeth McGovern).  I decided to see what she was doing on the show and within a few minutes I was hooked.  It wasn't until two hours later I realized that I still had chores to do, but it was hard to pull myself away from the TV.  I found myself in the thrall of “Downton Abbey's” hypnotic powers.

I also found Downton Abbey the movie hypnotic, and a New Era was no less hypnotic, in large part because director Simon Curtis seems to have a grasp of all elements of the film, down to the details.  Both films offer many of the same ingredients of the television series that made it so popular and have since made it an enduring favorite.

One thing that A New Era does that the first film did not is offer a lot of change, including one monumental change.  Much of that change directly or indirectly involves the ailing dowager countess, Violet Crawley, as she settles her affairs and prepares the family for her eventual passing.  Series creator and screenwriter of both films, Julian Fellowes, specializes in historical ensemble dramas, such as Gosford Park (2001), and historical costume dramas, such as The Young Victoria (2009).  Fellowes spends much of this film introducing a sense of newness or of renewal in the lives of the denizens of Downton Abbey and of those connected to them.

There are new relationships and changes in employment, including the promise of another wedding and of two acquaintances becoming a couple.  Individuals assume new positions in the Crawley family, and even members of the film crew get new leases on their careers and in their personal relationships.  Downton Abbey: A New Era is truly the dawning of a new era in this world, and while this film does indeed have two primary settings, its story feels a bit more focused than the first film's story.

If you liked the television series, you will like this second film, to some degree, because it is more Downton Abbey.  Honestly, as with the first film, I love it and want more.  Downton Abbey: A New Era makes me happy, and I look forward to what is next...

8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Saturday, July 16, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: First "DOWNTON ABBEY" Movie Brought Me a Little Happiness

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 32 of 2022 (No. 1844) by Leroy Douresseaux

Downton Abbey (2019)
Running time: 122 minutes (2 hours, 2 minutes)
MPAA – PG for thematic elements, some suggestive material, and language
DIRECTOR:  Michael Engler
WRITER: Julian Fellowes (based on the television series created by Julian Fellowes)
PRODUCERS:  Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame, and Liz Trubridge
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ben Smithard
EDITOR:  Mark Day
COMPOSER:  John Lunn

DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Hugh Bonneville, Mark Addy, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Michael Fox, Matthew Goode, Geraldine James, Robert James-Collier, Simon Jones, Allen Leech, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Tuppence Middleton, Stephen Campbell Moore, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, and Penelope Wilton

Downton Abbey is a 2019 historical drama film directed by Michael Engler.  It is based on the British television series, “Downton Abbey” (ITV, 2010-15), which was created by Julian Fellowes, who also wrote the screenplay for this film.  Downton Abbey the movie continues the story of the Crawley family as they prepare the family estate for a royal visit.

Downton Abbey opens in 1927, eighteen months after the end of the television series.  Robert Crawley, Lord Grantham and 7th Earl of Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), receives word that King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James) intend to visit Downton Abbey during their royal Yorkshire tour.  Downton is the Crawley family's large estate in the English countryside of Yorkshire (County of York).  Both the family and the staff of Downton Abbey are excited by the news.

Lord Grantham puts his daughter, Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery), in charge of the preparations for the visit.  Lady Mary feels that the current head butler, Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier), is ill-equipped to manage such an important event.  Thus, she recruits retired head butler, Charles Carson (Jim Carter), to briefly return from retirement in order to assist her, much to Barrow's chagrin.  However, once members of the royal staff begin to arrive at Downton in advance of the King and Queen themselves, they act rudely towards the Downton staff and make it clear that they will supplant them for the duration of the royal visit.

Meanwhile, a feud brews between Lord Grantham's mother, Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith), and Maud, Lady Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), the Queen's lady-in-waiting and a relative of the Crawleys.  Lord Grantham is Maud's first cousin once removed, so he should inherit Maud's estate.  However, Maud has plans regarding her maid, Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton), who has a mysteriously close relationship with Maud.  Meanwhile, Tom Branson (Alan Leech) meets Lucy, and they strike up a friendship.

These are just a few of the dramas and melodramas, both large and small, that brew as a royal visit threatens to upend the lives of those upstairs and downstairs at Downton Abbey.

The original television series, Downton Abbey, began airing on the British television network, ITV, in 2010 and ended in 2015, after six seasons and 52 episodes.  It aired on the American broadcast network, PBS, as part of its “Masterpiece” series from 2011-20, before moving onto streaming services, Peacock and Netflix.  The final episode of “Downton Abbey” was set on New Year's Eve, 1925, and the movie is set 18 months after the TV series finale, according to an interview the writer and director gave to the Hollywood film site, The Wrap.  The King George V depicted in this film reigned from 1910 to 1936.  He was also the father of the next king, Edward VIII, who abdicated a few months into his reign.  Thus, George V's second son, Prince Albert, Duke of York, became King George VI, who was also the father of the current Queen Elizabeth II.

When I first heard of “Downton Abbey,” I mostly ignored it, although I watched a few minutes here and there.  One Sunday afternoon, however, while channel surfing, I came across the show and recognized an actor (maybe American actress Elizabeth McGovern).  I decided to see what she was doing on the show and within a few minutes I was hooked.  It wasn't until two hours later I realized that I still had chores to do, but it was hard to pull myself away from the TV.  I found myself in the thrall of “Downton Abbey's” hypnotic powers.

I also found Downton Abbey the movie hypnotic.  It offers many of the same ingredients of the television series that made it so popular and have since made it an enduring favorite.  The film both expands and extracts those elements, as needed, for the main plot – the royal visit.  Actually, creator Julian Fellowes' screenplay allows all the regular members of the TV cast to do what is expected of their respective characters, while allowing them to shine in the small moments of this film.  New characters, such as Imelda Staunton as Cousin Maud and Tuppence Middleton as her maid, Lucy, who shine in their respective supporting roles.

Some of the subplots here could work as story lines for an entire season of the television series.  That includes an assassination subplot and a first gay romantic experience, the former seeming forced and unauthentic and the latter being something beautiful, but woefully underdeveloped.

If you liked the television series, you will like this, to some degree, because it is more Downton Abbey.  Or you will be disappointed, to some degree, because it does not meet your expectations of what more Downton Abbey should be.  Honestly, I loved it, and I wanted more.  Downton Abbey the movie made me happy, and I look forward to the soon to be released sequel, Downton Abbey: A New Era.

8 of 10
A
★★★★ out of 4 stars

Wednesday, May 18, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS" is Timely, Could Be Timeless

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 52 of 2021 (No. 1790) by Leroy Douresseaux

Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for disturbing/mature thematic content, language, some sexual references and teen drinking
WRITER-DIRECTOR:  Eliza Hittman
PRODUCERS:  Adele Romanski and Sara Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Hélène Louvart
EDITOR:  Scott Cummings
COMPOSER:  Julia Holter

DRAMA

Starring:  Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, and Théodore Pellerin

[The Texas six-week abortion ban, SB8, went into effect today, as I write this (Wed., September 1, 2021), and that makes Eliza Hittman's acclaimed film, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” timely 20 months after its debut at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.]

Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a 2020 British-American drama from writer-director Eliza Hittman.  The film focuses on a rural Pennsylvania teenager who, seeking an abortion, embarks on a fraught journey to New York City in order to get one.  Oscar-winning filmmaker, Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), is one of the film's executive producers.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always introduces 17-year-old Autumn Callahan (Sidney Flanigan), who lives with her family in rural Ellensboro, Pennsylvania.  Autumn suspects that she is pregnant and goes to the Ellensboro Women's Clinic.  There, she takes a test that confirms that she is pregnant – 10 weeks pregnant according to a woman who works at the clinic.

After learning that she is unable to get an abortion in Pennsylvania without parental consent, Autumn confides in her cousin, Skylar (Talia Ryder), that she is pregnant.  Autumn and Skylar buy two bus tickets and travel to New York City where Autumn can have an abortion with parental consent.   The journey, however, is fraught with complications, including the fact that the girls have little cash and have no place to stay in the city.  And getting an abortion is not as easy, nor will it be as quick, as Autumn thought.

Roe v. Wade (1973) is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision.  The Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction, and, in the process, struck down many U.S. federal and state abortion laws.  However, beginning with Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989), the Supreme Court essentially began allowing states to impose restrictions and regulations on a woman's right to have an abortion.  In the ensuing four decades, some of the restrictions placed by states can rightly be called “excessive,” to one extent or another.

That is the context in which Never Rarely Sometimes Always exists.  Autumn and Skylar embark on a fraught journey from small town Pennsylvania to New York City, knowing no one, not having a place to stay, and lacking adequate money so that Autumn can have an abortion.  And Autumn must face having this serious medical procedure as a minor, unsure of what support that she would get from her mother and (apparent) stepfather.

What hangs over this powerful drama is that Autumn is exposing herself and Skylar to danger because the state in which she lives, Pennsylvania, can place multiple restrictions on what is supposed to be a Constitutionally guaranteed right.  In theory, Autumn should have relatively easy access to safe medical care in her home state, yet what she does have in her home town is access to medical care, in which the facility's agenda takes priority over her health and well being and her choices.

In Never Rarely Sometimes Always, writer-director Eliza Hittman is advocating for abortion rights and access, yet she does all her preaching in a film that essentially has two parts.  The first is the story of a teenage girl facing a crisis, and the second part is a kind of dark New York adventure in which the young heroes must, by hook or crook, stay safe in order to enjoy a triumph – even if they cannot really celebrate such a triumph – Autumn getting her abortion.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always takes its title from the multiple choice answers that Autumn can give to a series of questions about her sex life asked by an abortion counselor.  It is in that moment, when Autumn struggles to answer, that Hittman depicts the reality that there is complexity behind a woman or girl's decision to seek an abortion.  It isn't simply about having an “abortion-on-demand.”

Suddenly, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is not so much an argument between anti-choice and pro-choice, nor is it simply about the states and their varying degrees of access to a safe and legal abortion.  Never Rarely Sometimes Always is, at that moment, a story about a teenage girl who faces alone the trouble she did not create by herself.

9 of 10
A+

Wednesday, September 1, 2021


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN" Rocked Me Like a Hurricane

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 29 of 2021 (No. 1767) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Promising Young Woman (2020)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence including sexual assault, language throughout, some sexual material and drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Emerald Fennell
PRODUCERS:  Tom Ackerley, Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara, and Margot Robbie
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Benjamin Cracun (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Frederic Thoraval
COMPOSER:  Anthony Willis
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/COMEDY/THRILLER

Starring:  Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Chris Lowell, Connie Britton, Adam Brody, Max Greenfield, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Sam Richardson, Alfred Molina, and Molly Shannon

Promising Young Woman is a 2020 black comedy and suspense thriller film from director Emerald Fennell.  The film focuses on a young woman who takes revenge for a traumatic event in her past on the unwary young men who cross her path.

Promising Young Woman introduces Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas (Carey Mulligan), a 30 year-old medical school dropout who lives with her parents, Susan (Jennifer Coolidge) and Stanley Thomas (Clancy Brown), in Ohio.  Seven years earlier, something terrible happened to Cassie's best friend, Nina Fisher, at a party, and it led to both Cassie and Nina leaving the medical school they attended, Forrest University.

Now, Cassie spends her nights feigning drunkenness in clubs, and allowing men to take her to their homes.  Then, she bluntly and forcefully reveals her sobriety when these men try to take advantage of her by having sexual relations with a woman who is too inebriated to give consent.  Things begin to change when Cassie is reunited with a former classmate, Dr. Ryan Cooper (Bo Burnham), a pediatrician.  When another classmate reveals a lurid secret, Cassie resumes her mission of revenge, but can she survive her own mission.

Of the many shocking things about Promising Young Woman, one of them is actress Carey Mulligan.  She completely buries herself in this role, and the waif-like persona she adopted in some of her early films disappears in the storm of the force of nature that is Cassie.  Mulligan's performance as Cassie recalls classic Clint Eastwood movie characters like “Dirty” Harry Callahan and “Preacher” (from 1985's Pale Rider).  I also have to give a shout out to Promising Young Woman's makeup department for its work in creating Cassie's look, which, spiritually, recalls the those vengeful dead girls in such Japanese horror films as Ringu (1998) and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002).

I can't help but be impressed by the debut directorial effort of writer-director Emerald Fennell.  Her film is straight to the point.  Fennell is not being allegorical, metaphorical, or symbolic.  Fennell delivers stunning entertainment that is both a timely message movie and a timeless cinematic film, a mainstream spin of the spirit of The Last House on the Left (1972) and I Spit on Your Grave (1978).  She may or may not be talking to you, sir, but there is no doubt about what Fennell is saying.

In a way, Promising Young Woman is the Get Out of 2020.  Like Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning film, Promising Young Woman is a game changer.  Whereas Peele's Get Out was a revelation in its message about white people's violence against African-American bodies, Fennell's Promising Young Woman is the clarion call to the reckoning for the way men objectify and enact sexual violence on the bodies of women.  Hopefully, Fennell's film is the cinematic earthquake that leads to a Hollywood tsunami.

And yes, Promising Young Woman is entertaining.  It simply manages to also blow your mind, chill your blood … and make some men reflexively cover their jewels.

9 of 10
A+

Monday, March 22, 2021


NOTES:
2021 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Original Screenplay” (Emerald Fennell); 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell, and Josey McNamara), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Carey Mulligan), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Emerald Fennell), and “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Frédéric Thoraval)

2021 Golden Globes, USA:  4 nominations: “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Emerald Fennell), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Carey Mulligan), “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Emerald Fennell), “Best Motion Picture - Drama”

2021 BAFTA Awards:  2 wins: “Best Screenplay-Original” (Emerald Fennell) and “Outstanding British Film of the Year” (Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, and Josey McNamara); 4 nominations: “Best Film” (Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox, and Josey McNamara), “Best Editing” (Frédéric Thoraval), “Original Score” (Anthony Willis), and “Best Casting” (Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu)


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).

#28DaysofBlack Review: "HARRIET" and Cynthia Erivo Are Magnificent

[A powerful historical Black woman deserves to have her story told powerfully.  Harriet Tubman, the face of the Underground Railroad, gets that in director Kasi Lemmons' 2019 film, “Harriet.”]

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 of 2021 (No. 1759) by Leroy Douresseaux

Harriet (2019)
Running time:  125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic content throughout, violent material and language including racial epithets
DIRECTOR:  Kasi Lemmons
WRITERS:  Gregory Allen Howard and Kasi Lemmons; based on a story by Gregory Allen Howard
PRODUCERS:  Debra Martin Chase, Gregory Allen Howard, and Daniela Taplin Lundberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John Toll
EDITOR:  Wyatt Smith
COMPOSER:  Terence Blanchard
Academy Award nominee

BIOPIC/DRAMA/ACTION/HISTORICAL

Starring:  Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Jennifer Nettles, Janelle Monáe, Omar Dorsey, Tim Guinee, Zackary Momoh, Henry Hunter Hall, Deborah Olayinka Ayorinde, and Rakeem Laws

Harriet is a 2019 biographical film and historical drama from director Kasi Lemmons.  The film is a fictional depiction of the life and work of Harriet Tubman (1822-1913), a black woman who was an American abolitionist, a suffragette, and the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad.  Harriet the movie tells the story of the runaway slave who transformed herself into one of America's greatest heroes by helping to free other slaves.

Harriet opens in Bucktown, Maryland, the year 1849.  A black female slave named Araminta “Minty” Ross (Cynthia Erivo) is newly married to a freedman, John Tubman (Zackary Momoh).  Minty is a slave on the farm of Edward Brodess, along with her mother, Rit (Vanessa Bell Calloway), and her sister, Rachel (Deborah Olayinka Ayorinde).  Minty's father, a freedman named Ben Ross (Clarke Peters), approaches Edward Brodess about gaining freedom for Rit and the children she bore based on an agreement made by Brodess' father, but Brodess rudely declines.

Shortly afterwards, Brodess dies, and his son, Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn), decides to sell Minty down the river, which mean down into the deep south, the worst place for a slave.  Minty suffers “spells” since being struck in the head as a child, but they are also visions from God.  The spell that Minty suffers after Gideon decides to sell her is the vision that Minty believes is telling her to run away before she is taken to the slave auction.

Fearing that she could endanger her husband and family, she leaves them behind and, after a long journey, makes her way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  A year later, Minty has renamed herself Harriet Tubman and makes her first journey back to Maryland.  There, she will either take her first steps to free other slaves, or she will be returned to a cruel fate at the hands of an evil owner.

In Harriet, writers Gregory Allen Howard and Kasi Lemmons fashioned a story that captures the horrors of slavery in a manner similar to that of the 2013 film, 12 Years a Slave.  However, 12 Years a Slave is the tale of a free black man trapped in hell of chattel slavery who is determined to survive until a miracle arrives.  Harriet is the tale of a black woman born into slavery who takes her fate into her own hands and runs through a hell's gauntlet to find freedom.

To that end, Kasi Lemmons as director creates a film that moves that narrative via action and opportunity.  Characters take action and take advantage of the opportunity to gain freedom.  As Harriet says at one point in the film – “God was watching me but my feet were my own.”  Harriet's lead character is a pistol-packing, action movie heroine every bit as stalwart as Captain America and as ruthless as actor Clint Eastwood's most famous roles in Westerns.

Actress Cynthia Erivo, as Harriet Tubman, is the center of this film's holy trinity.  Erivo's Harriet is a force of nature and the wrath of God against slavery.  In the film's quiet moments, Erivo presents Harriet as thoughtful and contemplative, but she maintains the roiling storm within, the elemental forces that drive her to return to the land of slavery time and again to free other slaves.  Erivo seems to transform Harriet's spells and visions into a living thing that devours fear and cowardice and the evil that is slavery.  One can believe that this Harriet was the star of the Underground Railroad, the network of secret routes and safe houses in the United States used by enslaved black people to escape from slave states and into free states and Canada.

Erivo's almighty performance earned her an Oscar nomination for “Best Actress.”  It is a shame that she did not win, and it is a shame that Harriet did not receive more Academy Award nominations than it did.  This film has good supporting performances, an excellent musical score, and costume design that created costumes for the cast that look like the real deal.  However, it is Gregory Allen Howard, Kasi Lemmons, and Cynthia Erivo that drive Harriet into being what may be the best film of 2019.

10 of 10

Wednesday, February 24, 2021


NOTE:
2020 Academy Awards, USA:  2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Cynthia Erivo) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Song” (Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell for the song “Stand Up”)

2020 Golden Globes, USA:  2 nominations:  “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Cynthia Erivo) and “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Joshuah Brian Campbell music/lyrics and Cynthia Erivo-music/lyrics for the song “Stand Up”)

2020 Black Reel Awards:  6 nominations: “Outstanding Actress, Motion Picture” (Cynthia Erivo), “Outstanding Director, Motion Picture” (Kasi Lemmons), “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Janelle Monáe), “Outstanding Cinematography” (John Toll), “Outstanding Costume Design” (Paul Tazewell), and “Outstanding Production Design” (Warren Alan Young)

2020 Image Awards (NAACP):  7 nominations:  “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” (Cynthia Erivo), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Leslie Odom Jr.), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Janelle Monáe), “Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture: (Cynthia Erivo), “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture-Film” (Kasi Lemmons), and “Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture-Film” (Kasi Lemmons and Gregory Allen Howard)


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: McConaughey Super Sells "Dallas Buyers Club"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 36 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Running time:  117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, some strong sexual content, nudity and drug use
DIRECTOR:  Jean-Marc Vallée
WRITERS:  Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack
PRODUCERS:  Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Yves Bélanger (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Martin Pensa and John Mac McMurphy (Jean-Marc Vallée)
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/BIOPIC with elements of a historical

Starring:  Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Jared Leto, Denis O’Hare, Steve Zahn, Michael O’Neill, Dallas Roberts, Griffin Dunne, Kevin Rankin, Donna Duplantier, Deneen D. Tyler, J.D. Evermore, and Bradford Cox

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 biographical drama from director Jean-Marc Vallée.  The film is a dramatization about real-life AIDS patient, Ron Woodroof.  He discovered unapproved pharmaceutical drugs that would help his disease symptoms and then, later smuggled those drugs into Texas to help fellow AIDS patients.  The film was critically acclaimed and won three Oscars, including a best actor win for Matthew McConaughey and a best supporting actor win for Jared Leto.

Dallas Buyers Club opens in 1985 in Dallas.  Electrician, hustler, and rodeo cowboy, Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) falls ill and is diagnosed with HIV.  He is given 30 days to live.  Ron initially refuses to accept the diagnosis, but quickly finds himself ostracized by friends and coworkers.  Ron learns from the kindly Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner) about the experimental drug AZT, which is supposed to help with symptoms of AIDS.  Ron is able to obtain some without having a prescription.  However, he not only abuses AZT, but he also continues to abuse illegal narcotics.

Ron develops full-blown AIDS.  As he fights to live, he begins to study and research AIDS and learns that outside the United States there are pharmaceutical drugs used to fight the symptoms of AIDS.  However, they are unapproved for use in the U.S. by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).  Ron begins to smuggle large quantities of these drugs into Dallas.  With the help of Rayon (Jared Leto), a sassy cross-dressing man/transgender, Ron opens the “Dallas Buyers Club” to sell these unapproved drugs to HIV-positive and AIDS patients, but Ron’s efforts draw the attention of people who want to shut him down.

I have seen many films that are elevated by a great performance.  Raging Bull is memorable for Robert De Niro’s legendary turn as boxer Jake La Motta.  Russell Crowe gives the most nuanced performance of his career in A Beautiful Mind.  Helen Mirren rules The Queen.  In fact, all three of these movies would be little more than made-for-television films without the celebrated performances given by their respective lead actors.

Dallas Buyers Club tells a story that needed to be told and needs to be remembered, but without Matthew McConaughey’s performance, this film would be a well-meaning TV movie or an indie film that would have been lost in the art film ghetto.  McConaughey risked his health in order to lose weight to play the emaciated Ron Woodroof, but what really makes his performance so distinguished is that McConaughey takes on Woodruff’s cause and suffering as if his own life depended upon it.

McConaughey is a good actor and has given some excellent performance.  However, in recent years, he has finally showcased his talent and skill in character study films that require putting out the effort to create fully-realized fictional characters.  Anyone who is a fan of McConaughey or has seen some of his films must see Dallas Buyers Club.

Both Jared Leto’s transformation into Rayon and his performance are impressive.  Leto was indeed Oscar worthy, but Rayon is mostly unnecessary to this story.  Although Rayon was not a real-life figure and was created specifically for this movie, he could have been replaced with just about any other character.  Leto is magnificent in a film in which the filmmakers didn’t seem to know what to do with his character other than to play him as a stereotype – the tragic mulatto version of drag queen.  Jennifer Garner’s Dr. Saks is also wasted, although not nearly as badly as Rayon is.

However, Matthew McConaughey is so good that he makes you overlook Dallas Buyers Club’s warts.  His character, Ron Woodroof, is a charming rogue with electrifying swagger.  It is as if McConaughey and Woodroof are two separate beings occupying the same space, and they are why Dallas Buyers Club earned a best picture Oscar nomination.  And that best picture Oscar nod made what would have been just an AIDS movie into something special.

8 of 10
A

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards, USA:  3 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Matthew McConaughey), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Jared Leto), “Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling” (Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews); 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter), “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Jean-Marc Vallée and Martin Pensa), “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack)

2014 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Matthew McConaughey) and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Jared Leto)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "Cry_Wolf" is Worthy of Attention

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 149 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Cry_Wolf (2005)
Running time:  90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, terror, disturbing images, language, sexuality, and a brief drug reference
DIRECTOR:  Jeff Wadlow
WRITERS:  Jeff Wadlow and Beau Bauman
PRODUCER:  Beau Bauman
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Romeo Tirone
EDITOR:  Seth Gordon
COMPOSER:  Michael Wandmacher

HORROR/THRILLER/MYSTERY

Starring:  Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jared Padalecki, Jon Bon Jovi, Sandra McCoy, Kristy Wu, Jane Beard, Gary Cole, Jesse Janzen, Paul James, Ethan Cohn, and Michael Kennedy

The subject of this movie review is Cry_Wolf, a 2005 horror film and murder mystery from the team of Jeff Wadlow and Beau Bauman.  The film focuses on eight high school seniors at a posh boarding school whose lies catch up with them after they create a fake serial killer prank.

Tossed out of his old school, Owen Matthews (Julian Morris) arrives at prestigious Westlake Prep where he falls in with the school’s unofficial and self-appointed “liar’s club.”  Playing on the fear caused by a young woman recently found murdered in the woods, the friends decide to expand the reach of their game beyond campus.

They create an online rumor that the girl’s slaying is just the latest in a long line of killings by a serial killer known as “The Wolf.”  Owen and Dodger (Lindy Booth), a female student that he likes, even create an M.O. for The Wolf and describe the kind of victims he prefers to murder after his initial kill, in this case, the girl he supposedly murdered in the nearby woods.  However, the club bases the victims on the people they know – each other.

After journalism teacher Rich Walker (Jon Bon Jovi) admonishes him about the dangers of online predators and spreading fear on the Internet, Owen regrets personally sending the initial Wolf rumor into cyberspace.  Worse still, someone calling himself “The Wolf” starts sending Owen threats via email and one of the liar’s club turns up missing.  Owen and his friends don’t know where their lies end and the truth begins.  However, campus officials consider the eight friends to be troublemakers, with Owen the ringleader and the one destined for expulsion.  So when the gang cries for help, everyone else views the distress as another hoax perpetrated by bad youths.  Nobody believes a liar, even when they’re telling the truth – perhaps, the real Wolf is stalking them.

Co-writer/producer Beau Bauman and co-writer/director Jeff Wadlow’s offbeat horror flick, Cry_Wolf, creates a novel twist on slasher films.  The atmosphere is good – occasionally creepy and will sometimes put you on the edge of your seat.  A quirky suspense thriller, Cry_Wolf has so many interesting twists and turns, quiet a few of which would make sense in the real world.

The film’s major problem is, of course, Bauman and Wadlow’s script.  They try something different and their concept is good.  One thing that works is the dialogue and interpersonal dynamics between the high school age characters; it’s sharp, witty, blistering, and dead-on.  However, the tense relationship between Owen and his father (played by Gary Cole with a bad English accent) is treated like stock footage.

The script’s big slip up is on the characters themselves, all of which come across as limp or wispy.  Some, like Owen and Dodger, are very interesting, but the screenplay is so focused on genre trappings and putting a unique spin on said genre that it doesn’t have time for the kind of rich character play Owen and Dodger both need and deserve.  The rest of the participants are intriguing, but are ultimately (or technically, as it turns out) just body count fodder.

That makes Cry_Wolf like so many other scary movies, soft on script even when the story concept is exciting.  Still, there is something to be said for trying something new.  At the end of the day, Cry_Wolf says that there is something scarier that the unknown killer in the dark.  It’s the people we think we know, people with something to hide and scores to settle for the wrongs they think their friends, colleagues, and associates have done them.  How far they willing to go and whom they’re willing to manipulate to balance the accounts can chill to the bones.

6 of 10
B

Updated:  Sunday, February 09, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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2013 Oscar Nominations: "Best Animated Feature Film of the Year"

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:

Nominated film: director(s)

Brave: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman

Frankenweenie: Tim Burton

ParaNorman: Sam Fell, Chris Butler

The Pirates! Band of Misfits: Peter Lord

Wreck-It Ralph: Rich Moore  

Review: "ParaNorman" Thankfully Not Normal

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 2 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

ParaNorman (2012)
Running time: 92 minutes (1 hour, 32 minutes)
MPAA – PG for scary action and images, thematic elements, some rude humor and language
DIRECTORS: Chris Butler and Sam Fell
WRITER: Chris Butler
PRODUCERS: Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tristan Oliver
EDITORS: Christopher Murrie
COMPOSERS: Jon Brion

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/HORROR/FAMILY

Starring: (voices) Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodelle Ferland, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, and John Goodman

ParaNorman is a 2012 American, 3D, stop-motion animated, comic-horror film. The film is a production of Laika, the stop-motion animation studio behind the 2009 film, Coraline. ParaNorman focuses on a misunderstood boy, who talks to ghosts, and his quest to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

Not many people in the town of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts seem to understand or even like 11-year-old Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee), except his dear mother, Sandra (Leslie Mann), of course. Norman can talk to ghosts. This claim infuriates his father, Perry (Jeff Garlin), because he thinks his son is too weird, and it annoys his sister, Courtney (Anna Kendrick), who is embarrassed by her brother. Norman even has a classmate dedicated to bullying him, the break dancer wannabe, Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Norman does have one friend, a chubby, eccentric kid named Neil Downe (Tucker Albrizzi).

Oh, there is one other person interested in Norman. That would be the town crazy, Mr. Prenderghast (John Goodman), who is also Norman’s uncle. He claims that Norman is the only person who can save the town from a centuries-old curse put upon it three hundred years ago by a vengeful witch. Pursued by zombies, Norman races to stop the curse with only Neil, a reluctant Courtney, and Mitch (Casey Affleck), Neil’s brother, by his side. But stopping the curse means having the right information/the real story, and Norman is having trouble getting that.

ParaNorman is not only one of the best animated films of the year, but it is also one of 2012’s best movies. This film looks like a Tim Burton movie, but is darker and less whimsical than most of Burton’s movies; ParaNorman is probably more in line and closer in tone with Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (1999).

One of my college professors said that books which contained controversial ideas often ended up in the children’s literature section, To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies, being examples she used. ParaNorman is kind of like that; in fact, it is like one of those children’s classics (film or storybook) with something to say. It runs the gamut of themes and ideas: the destruction of revenge, bullying, parental acceptance, the cycle in which parents pass on their fears and prejudices to their children or even project those onto their children, the fear of being different, how easy it is for a person to isolate himself because he is persecuted for being different, the mob mentality, the quest for redemption, etc. ParaNorman has so many ideas and themes that I lost count. It does not aspire to be more than a kid’s movie; it just wants to be more than the average children’s movie.

The film is such a feast of dark colors and fantastic visual elements that it is easy to miss the substance. The stop-motion animation and production values in ParaNorman exceed Coraline; it’s not even close. The character design alone is way ahead in terms of imagination and diversity than many animated feature films. The characters are caricatures of real-life human body types, but in an amusing way that celebrates all the big hips, thunder thighs, scrawny necks, big butts, fat bodies, etc. without being cruel for the sake of cheap laughs.

There is a lot more to say, but I don’t want to run on (longer than I usually do). This hand-crafted movie is a miracle. It celebrates being different, but also enjoying being different from other people. There is a surprise reveal about one of the characters near the end of the film that makes ParaNorman extra, extra-special.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, January 04, 2013