I forgot what a tightly crafted, perfectly executed film Training Day was. I knew it was excellent, I remembered it as gritty and intense, but I hadn’t seen it since 2001. Watching it afresh over twenty years later, and one is struck by the intensity of the performances, Denzel Washington deservedly won an Oscar for…
Tag: oscar
Suspicion (1941) – Alfred Hitchcock
Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine star in Hitchcock’s Suspicion. Nominated for Best Picture, Fontaine walked away with a Best Actress Oscar, and she is nothing short of fantastic. Grant is Johnnie Aysgarth, a charming rogue with a penchant for detective novels, a penniless playboy who seems to be conning and gaslighting everyone from his friend,…
Magnum P.I. (2021) – Til Death, and Devil on the Doorstep
Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks) find themselves dealing with an anxious groom in Til Death. Written by Katie Varney, this episode first debuted on 5 November, 2021. Aiden (Ian Harding) hires the investigators to look into his fiancee, Serena (Molly Griggs), when she begins to behave weirdly, stressed, strange phone calls….
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) – Dean Fleischer Camp
Dean Fleischer Camp directed this faux documentary that follows a tiny shell, named Marcel, as he discovers a measure of internet fame, its upside and down, and a measure of loss and the importance of family and change. Filled with beautiful stop-motion animation blended brilliantly with live action, the story finds Camp playing a version…
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) – 4K Review
Sony Pictures’ release of their Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4 brings me another iconic film that was missing from my viewing history, the Robert Benton film, Kramer vs. Kramer. Based on the novel by Avery Corman the film stars Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep as the titular Kramers. Hoffman is Ted Kramer,…
Whiplash (2014) – Damien Chazelle
I am well aware that I’m playing catch-up on this title, but I knew this one would have to be one that I was ready and in the mood for, and wow, a fantastic film. The first half of the film is a huge stress-watch for me, but what an amazing ride and one that…
Mississippi Burning (1988) – Alan Parker
Mississippi Burning was relevant when it was made in the late 80s (it was relevant when I watched it nine years ago and wrote about it then), and sadly, here in 2024, it’s still relevant, because racism still seems to be way too rampant. The Oscar-winning film (Cinematography) has a stellar cast and is based…
Titanic (1997) – 4K
James Cameron’s epic Oscar-winning film, Titanic, finally comes to 4K in time for the holidays, and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) have never looked better. Man has this film come a long way. I remember seeing this on the big screen and marvelling at the spectacle Cameron put on the screen. It was…
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – Bob Perischetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
Marvel and Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse delivered a brilliant, funny, engaging, and arguably one of the best onscreen Spider-Man we’ve seen yet, and it’s animation style is fantastic. It marries a number of animation styles and literally brings the comic book to life. When Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) has a life-altering encounter with Spider-Man…
U.S. Marshals (1998) – Stuart Baird
Director Stuart Baird delivers a semi-sequel to 1993’s The Fugitive with this film that sees the return of Tommy Lee Jones as U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard, a role he won an Oscar for in the Harrison Ford thriller. This time around, even though he’s accompanied by a score by Jerry Goldsmith, the film doesn’t have…
The Mind Reels 