Tonight I saw the short film Stuck, starring Steve Blackwood and Sandy Bainum. "It's not a crime scene, it's a situation!" George (Blackwood) and Helen (Bainum) want to take their intimacy to the next level, so they order a sex machine to spice things up. It arrives the evening of an important dinner they're hosting for clients ... but they hit a snag when the delivery boy gets stuck in the contraption, rendered unconscious. The remainder of the film is witnessing the couple as they feverishly try to troubleshoot their way out of this predicament and prepare for their evening. Their banter ..read more

Tonight I saw Ghost, starring Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg. The week this film debuted in 1990, I was at the theater, first in line. I loved all the actors, I loved the title and that was all I needed to know to buy the ticket. Luckily, it didn't disappoint. It not only became one of my all-time favorite films, it also took home two Academy Awards (Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Ms. Goldberg). I own the film, and have watched it several times since, but haven't seen it in a theater since the year it came out. I was thrilled when a nearby indie theater said they'd prese ..read more

Here are my final picks for tomorrow's ceremony: WRITING: ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Who Will Win: PARASITE My Pick: ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD WRITING: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Who Will Win: JOJO RABBIT My Pick: LITTLE WOMEN VISUAL EFFECTS Who Will Win: 1917 My Pick: THE IRISHMAN SOUND MIXING Who Will Win: 1917 My Pick: JOKER SOUND EDITING Who Will Win: 1917 My Pick: ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD SHORT FILM: LIVE ACTION Who Will Win: THE NEIGHBORS' WINDOW My Pick: NEFTA FOOTBALL CLUB SHORT FILM: ANIMATED Who Will Win: HAIR LOVE My Pick: HAIR LOVE PRODUCTION DESIGN Who Will Win: THE IRISHMAN My ..read more

On Thursday I saw Parasite, starring Jung Ji-so and Jo Yeo-jeong. The Kim family is poor; the Park family is rich. The Park family needs assistance running their high class household and the Kim family sees an opportunity. Soon, in devious ways, all four of the Kims are employed by the Parks doing various tasks for them, though they don't disclose they're at all related. Soon, they've infiltrated their entire world and begin to reap the benefits in healthy salaries and access to the mansion when the Parks are away (i.e. a camping trip). Inherently, as a girl raised in an Immigrant-led, blue ..read more

Yesterday I saw all five of the nominated films in the Documentary Short category. I'll present my reviews in the order the films were shown. LIFE OVERTAKES ME (Sweden, USA) A mysterious illness is breaking the hearts of refugee parents all across Sweden. This film shows real-life cases of Resignation Syndrome, where children effectively enter into a coma after a series of traumatic events renders their bodies unresponsive. Facing deportation, the parents often have to parent children not afflicted by the ailment and tend to every basic need of those who do while battling for asylum. It's ..read more

Yesterday I saw all five of the nominated films in the Live Action Short category. I'll present my reviews in the order the films were shown. A SISTER (Belgium) We join the film as a woman in peril makes a phone call from the car she's riding in with who appears to be her date. A date that has gone horribly wrong. Next, we see the person receiving the call who tries to make sense of the situation. It's a tense, simmer-beneath-the-surface thriller that we're not sure will turn out the way we hope. I was glued to the edge of my seat. BROTHERHOOD (Tunisia, Canada, Qatar, Sweden) A Tunisian ..read more

On Wednesday I saw 1917, starring George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman. Two Lance Corporals (MacKay and Chapman) in the British army during World War I are sent by their general (Colin Firth, who disappointingly only appears only for a few minutes of the film) across the French countryside to stop an attack that will likely not end well for their people, if executed. That's it. That's the whole film. So, yes, despite the gorgeous cinematography and the haunting silences that befall our protagonists, the story drags on and on ... and on. Only one "unexpected" thing happens along the way ..read more

Today I saw Jojo Rabbit, starring Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie. Jojo (Davis) is a 10-year-old boy in Nazi Germany. He is a youth training to fight for Hitler and his mother (Scarlett Johansson) isn't happy about it, but plays along for the sake of survival. One day, Jojo discovers a young Jewish friend of his dead sister's hiding out in his house—apparently his mother has kept her there for quite a while, but she's never been discovered. He is torn whether or not to report her presence to the Gestapo. But then he falls in love with her. Sounds like a sweet story, right? Well ..read more

Today I saw Pain and Glory, starring Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz. Salvador (Banderas) is an aging film director who is suffering a rapid decline in health. Through a series of events, he looks back on his life—both with fondness and regret—over many of the choices he's made. I seldom look at the time during Pedro Almodovar films, but I'm sad to say that I did during this one. Though Banderas is wonderful in the role, it feels like we're watching a dreary loop of his past, which is both easy to anticipate and anticlimactic to experience. It's easy to see that Almodovar wanted to cove ..read more

On Friday, I saw Just Mercy, starring Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan. Walter McMillian (Foxx) is a black man, living in Alabama, running his own business clearing out trees and brush around town. He has a family, a clean record and is well-liked in his community. One day in 1986, a white girl is murdered at a local dry cleaning store. There are no obvious suspects, but after six months, they bring McMillian in and accuse him of the crime, mostly because he once had an affair with a white woman. They have no evidence to support their theory, yet he is convicted and lands on death row. His s ..read more