Going In Blind: rebuilding

For your consideration: josh O’Connor. In anything. I kicked off the year with Josh in a little film called Bonus Track, which was based off a treatment he wrote. He has since appeared in four films all in the proximity of the Oscars. You could consider him for The History Of Sound, the Mastermind, Rebuilding, and Wake Up dead Man. this guy can’t stop and won’t stop. For this he brought along future Oscar 2026 nominee Amy Madigan, as well as a solid ensemble. And, for what it is worth, his performance here is impressive. It reminded me a little … Continue reading Going In Blind: rebuilding

Going in Blind: Put Your Soul On your Hand And Walk

perspective is everything. I’m Abe to watch films from the comfort of air conditioning, with food and drink easily in reach, and without the fear of being bombed in the middle of all of it. of course, we all have struggles, and trying too compare to race to the bottom seems fruitless, as despite circumstances, there is almost undoubtedly someone who has less, and worse. All we can do is take the life we’ve been given, and shine light on things around us that need improving. That’s why this review is titled going in blind, because that’s my perspective, and … Continue reading Going in Blind: Put Your Soul On your Hand And Walk

The smashing machine

it is depressing to start a review like this, but in my history of needing to chase down audio description for screeners, it is a rarity for me to encounter a studio including audio description without me asking for it. this means that anyone, not just me, has the access. let’s be honest, in all the considering happening out there, people are bound to be watching screeners with family, and that family might be low vision or blind, or the individual considering the film might be, as it is fully possible to be members of these guilds and be blind. … Continue reading The smashing machine

Thoughts And Prayers

The benefit of being on my own is being able to write whatever I want. is this a review? I don’t know. as long as I can remember, i wanted to be a Dad, likely due to my own Dad being around but not present. I remember having dreams about having kids before I was even ten, or anyone had a birds and bees conversation.when Columbine happened in April of 1999, I was wrapping up my Sophomore year in High School. I came from a small town, and we did fire and tornado drills. I’ve never participated in an active … Continue reading Thoughts And Prayers

The Choral

I’ve already gone to the “they don’t make them like they used to” well this year with Nuremberg, a courtroom drama that seems pulled from somewhere between 1995 and 2005. Here, The Choral reminds me of the kind of uplifting war-adjacent stories we got like Mrs Henderson Presents, or other “movies for grown ups” like Calendar Girls or Waking Ned Devine. Somehow a film like this now comes around and festival audiences react like they’ve just seen some schmaltzy drivel. the reality is, we’re living in an everything Everywhere Saw The TV Glow kind of world, and the kinds of … Continue reading The Choral

the Long Walk

Many already believe this is one of the best Stephen King adaptations, and perhaps it is. The bar can be rather low sometimes. Francis Lawrence was the right man for the job here, having already conquered a dystopian future with the Hunger Games (which Quentin Tarantino is apparently NOT a fan). So asking Lawrence to once again direct young actors in a situation where only one survives, and the government is responsible, is spot on. So if you’re signing up for a long walk, could it be even better? Yes. the movie takes place in the future where a post … Continue reading the Long Walk

Going In Blind: Waltzing With Brando

Multiple things can be true. Marlon Brando can be one of the greatest actors in terms of talent and performance there ever was and ever will be. he can also be, at the bare minimum, problematic, and possibly even a whole lot more. I actually think the audacity in naming the film waltzing with Brando is almost like nodding to the last Tango in Paris incident, which the film has nothing to do with, and couldn’t care less about. This came my way through FYC season, and watching Billy Zane attempt to play Brando should have amounted to a little … Continue reading Going In Blind: Waltzing With Brando

The Conjuring: Last Rites

Blindness has opened a world of horror films to me that I was too chicken to watch the first time around. I’m not a big fan of cheap jump scares, because there’s a difference between being startled and scared. The latter actually lingers, and stays with you. You can be startled by damn near anything anytime, without necessarily being scared of it.If you’re sitting in silence, a loud noise will make you jump, which is something horror directors thrive on time and time again. So I avoided The Conjuring. It looked like it was full of jump scares back in … Continue reading The Conjuring: Last Rites

The Thing With Feathers

if you’re a glutton for grief, wait until Friday and make a double feature of Hamnet and the Thing With feathers, and just let all those feelings out.An emotional cleansing. when i first heard Benedict Cumberbatch was in a film about loss, featuring a bird, I was reminded of Tuesday, which released last year with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. This one takes an even darker tone, but does it work? Cumberbatch plays a widower still reeling from the loss of his spouse, and trying to figure out how to raise his two young boys without her.n He’s also an artist, who earns … Continue reading The Thing With Feathers

Hamnet

Was Shakespeare ever really in love? Considering how fractured our knowledge of William Shakespeare is, we certainly seem enamored with his romantic life. This year, I’d be shocked if Jessie Buckley didn’t become yet another actress to win an Oscar for their fictional romance with Shakespeare. The difference between this and the Best picture winning Shakespeare In love is that this film is not a comedy. Not in the slightest. Releasing at thanksgiving is a bold move for a film that is not really a warm and inviting experience. this is a film where tissues will clog cupholders, and people … Continue reading Hamnet

Train Dreams

Ain’t no rest for the weary kind. In Train Dreams, the newest Oscar bait coming out of Netflix, we follow an individual through the course of his life, and mange to do so in under two hours. That’s kind of part of the theme of Train Dreams, a film that seems to question not just how much control we have over our own destiny, but how significant we are in the grand scheme. So to summarize this life in less than two hours, also drives home the idea that perhaps we are only legends in our own minds, and our … Continue reading Train Dreams

Going In Blind: Time Travel Is Dangerous

Would you rip through the fabric of time and space just to snatch some vintage garb, or go antiquing with your friends, at the expense of your own health? Probably. Sadly, a lot of people would choose blue poo as a side effect of stealing goods from the past and bringing it to the future, which is why everyone needs to know that Time travel is Dangerous! This is an inspired British indie mockumentary about two women running a vintage shop in the UK, who also happen to have a Time Machine. Don’t ask questions. If you were perfectly fine … Continue reading Going In Blind: Time Travel Is Dangerous

Going In Blind: Left Handed Girl

I would have been pleasantly surprised if Netflix had changed strategies this year and decided to commit to audio describing all their International films in consideration, but alas, they have not. Left Handed Girl does sit in the same world as Il Conde from a few years ago, where they did bother to do a dub track, so I have an understanding of Taiwan’s Oscar submission. Directed by Shi-Ching Tsuo, a frequent collaborator of Academy Award Winner Sean Baker, who is making her solo feature debut here, the premise stands as being what I talk of when I lament the … Continue reading Going In Blind: Left Handed Girl

Nobody 2

When you need a man with a very particular set of skills, you’d better call nobody. when you think about the career trajectory for Bob Odenkirk, he has truly had one of the most unique career paths. David Cross certainly hasn’t had the same level of against type performances. Now, after surprising with being an action star in the first film, he’s back because people like money. The first Nobody did OK at the box office, and proved to be a bit more of a charmer on streaming, eventually widening its fan base. I think given some time, this sequel … Continue reading Nobody 2

In Waves And War

A documentary that a review really can’t do justice. it’s hard to sit here and type, as a non-veteran, and convey the same emotion effectively as the veterans do in Netflix’s new documentary In Waves And War. The purpose of the film is to show how radical new drug therapies are helping soldiers with their PTSD, and in order to do that, we have to get to know the soldiers. they bravely served, and now courageously sit for this documentary feature and share their horror stories about what they went through. Most of these guys signed up just before 9/11, … Continue reading In Waves And War