The closing moments of the 92nd annual Academy Awards ceremony were so thrilling and so affirming – a come-from-behind victory by an out-of-town underdog, a moving and heartfelt Best Director acceptance speech that joyfully acknowledged the influence of his fellow nominees (and the fact that, um, Todd Phillips and Sam Mendes have certainly made movies), […]
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The first thing to understand about predicting the Oscars is that it’s impossible to do because the awards make no sense. Maybe that’s unfair, though. Maybe a better way to say it would be that the Oscars do make sense, but that we—the moviegoing public—do not understand why. * The Academy Awards are bestowed annually […]
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Last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences proposed the idea of introducing a new Academy Award category, Best Popular Film – an award that would honor the blockbuster films that are perceived as being relatively neglected by the Oscars. This is emblematic of the increasingly neurotic organization that has been desperately trying […]
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DC Comics’ Gotham City has not traditionally been a kind place for women. Bruce Wayne’s mother Martha was assassinated in the street for her pearls alongside her husband Thomas, but she barely registers as an influence on Batman in either Christopher Nolan’s or Todd Phillips’s films about the Dark Knight or the Joker, respectively. Catwoman, […]
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Knowing a little about Come to Daddy’s creative pedigree is probably the biggest indicator of your potential reaction to this wild and bizarre horror thriller. It’s the directing debut of Ant Timpson, best known before now for producing films like the Kiwi haunted house film Housebound, the retro-styled post-apocalyptic Turbo Kid and The Greasy Strangler, […]
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Horace B. Jenkins’s Cane River (opening in Brooklyn this Friday) is one of those stories of cinematic archaeology where the backstory threatens to overtake the film itself. Written, produced, and directed by Mr. Jenkins, shot on location in Louisiana with an all-African-American cast and crew in 1981, it never saw a proper theatrical release; Jenkins […]
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Of all of this Sunday’s Oscar nominees, 1917 has been the most lauded for its technical achievements. Given the frequency with which the cinematography of 1917 is discussed among film fans and Oscar pundits, it surprisingly boils down to just two main topics. One is the commonly held belief that legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins deserves […]
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After approximately 77 days of hyperventilating Twitter reaction reviews and 76 days of people complaining about hyperventilating Twitter reaction reviews, the 2020 Sundance Film Festival has drawn to a close. You, the Crooked Marquee reader, are of course well-versed in the festival’s offerings, thanks to Eric D. Snider’s exhaustive festival diary and Bill Bria’s insightful reviews, so it will come […]
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MOVIES:Black BearBoys StateDream HorseEmaThe FatherThe GloriasHerselfHis HouseJumboKajillionaireMinariMiss AmericanaNever Rarely Sometimes AlwaysNine DaysPossessorRelicSpreeSummertimeTeslaTimeUncle FrankWendyZola Day 1: Thursday, Jan. 23 Gird your loins (if you have them; I do not presume to know about your loins)! It’s time for another edition of the Sundance Film Festival, Robert Redford’s intimate movie shindig held each year in the desolate […]
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At this point, the “Help, I’m trapped in a time loop!” premise has become a Hollywood staple — don’t forget that we have not one, but two Happy Death Day movies out there to enjoy. The concept has become prevalent for good reason, as it presents an easy-to-understand structure combined with a good dose of […]
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Kajillionaire is writer-director Miranda July’s first feature film in nine years, and while it’s set in the present day, you’d be forgiven for thinking the movie is a lost film from over 20 years ago. So much of the ‘90s indie film aesthetic can be seen here: Characters are dressed mostly in track suits or […]
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Christmas-themed horror movies have become a thriving subgenre in recent years, providing micro-budget horror filmmakers with easy subject matter and plenty of options for pun-friendly titles. So why shouldn’t Valentine’s Day get the same holiday horror treatment? Writer-director Scott Jeffrey uses a lot of the familiar techniques of quickie Christmas horror movies in Cupid, a […]
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