Wake Up Dead Man

Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. If you build it, he will come. In Rian Johnson’s third outing in what is called the Knives Out series (for no other reason than it being the title of the first Benoit Blanc outing), we are asked to have a little faith. or, perhaps it is better to have a lack thereof. Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man may center in a church, but this is no Murder In the Cathedral. If you dress it up with simplicity, it could be seen as a modern day version of that, but woven in Johnson’s narrative … Continue reading Wake Up Dead Man

Going In Blind: The Summer Book

Cast: Glenn Close, Emily Matthew’s, Anders Danielsen Lei Written By:Robert Jones, based on the book. Directed By: Charlie McDowell Studio: Music Box Release Year: 2025 *There Is No Known Audio Description For This Title* What Is It?: A young girl spends time with her father and grandmother at their summer house on a small island off the coast of Finland. While she uses this opportunity to assemble a summer book of memories and experiences, the season is colored by the absence of her mother. A meditation on time, memory, and what we leave behind. What Works: I’m an open book, … Continue reading Going In Blind: The Summer Book

Quality Check: Back In Action

I’m quite backed up in terms of reviews of 2024 titles. I wanted to shake things up a bit, so this is hopefully a first in a series for me. As of me writing this, I have not seen this movie. These thoughts are first impressions and immediate reactions to moments in the audio description track. I’m not sure, at the onset, who made this, who narrated, or who wrote it, so we’re in this cold. Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz star. Diaz hasn’t done a film in years, and you would think Netflix would give her a better slot … Continue reading Quality Check: Back In Action

The paper: 30th Anniversary

The Paper: 30th Anniversary- Michael Keaton, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Marisa Tomei Quick Take: Not my first time through Ron Howard’s The Paper, which feels like some alternate reality nowadays. Trying to get kids to accept that a film about newspaper journalism is full of actors who are mostly still alive (Yes, Robert Duvall is still kicking, but RIP Jason Robards), and they see in films all the time, and when this was made… it was not a historical period piece.This is not The Post, or even All The President’s Men. The Paper takes place in the year it was … Continue reading The paper: 30th Anniversary

The Deliverance

What lee Daniels did in Precious is truly nothing short of a miracle. In one film, he got one of the most remarkable and memorable performances out of a stand-up comedienne whose prior work suggested she had none of that range. Monique’s work in precious is astounding, for anyone who has had to sit through something like her cinematic masterpiece Phat Girlz. That is the director I’m always looking for,and why I follow him into something like The Butler. To be fair, he got good performances in that as well, but from actors far less surprising. Fast forward to 2024, … Continue reading The Deliverance

Tarzan (1999): 25th Anniversary (with Tarzan II!)

Come stop your crying, it will be an all right. I know you just watched The Acolyte, and you are missing classic Disney, which is a great time to take a look at what Classic Disney looked like. Following my celebration of The Lion King, in all its 30th Anniversary glory, five years later they released Tarzan. It’s one of the divisive movies that not everyone loves, but I do. And if you think just because we hit the sweet spot with TThe Lion King, Inside Out 2, and Tarzan, that I adore everything Disney, this just happens to be … Continue reading Tarzan (1999): 25th Anniversary (with Tarzan II!)

The Wife

Where I Watched it: Netflix English Audio Description?: Yes One of these days, the Academy might bestow an Academy Award to Glenn Close. It just will be for a movie she is in that is better than The Wife. Finally catching up on this gem thanks to Netflix, The Wife has a simple premise. A man (Jonathan Pryce) has been declared the Nobel prize winnner for Literature, and he and his wife (Glenn Close) prepare to celebrate by taking a trip and reveling in the pomp and circumstance of the moment. Along for the ride will be their grown son … Continue reading The Wife