There's a scene in the film biopic "A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood" (2019) that's so sudden and violent, you wonder if the filmmakers forgot that this film centers around mild-mannered and famous US children's TV show host Mister Rogers (played flawlessly by two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks). The scene? A wedding reception. The sister … Continue reading Film Review – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Parenting documentaries are a dime a dozen. All feature kids of course. But while most profile both the dads and the moms (mostly the moms), few focus primarily on dads. Unless it's religious in nature. Like the excellent 2014 documentary by Focus on the Family called "Irreplaceable." As well as most films (War Room; Courageous) … Continue reading Film Review – Apple TV Documentary “Dads”
Even if you're not a follower of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movie franchise, you'll probably have heard of the passing of one of its leads and how it plunged fans everywhere into shock and grief. The actor Chadwick Boseman, who played the title role in The Black Panther (2018), tragically passed away in 2020 … Continue reading Film Review — Wakanda Forever & the 6 Stages of Grief
"You don't have what it takes...So why in the world would I give you this shot?" Who's never heard a line like that before at some point in their lives? A teacher, who challenges a student why she shouldn't flunk her for a poorly-written assignment. A father, who asks his son why he deserves another … Continue reading Film Review — destiny belongs to the “American Underdog”
Been a while since I did a film review. And with so many films to pick from, I'm actually not sure why I've chosen this one. Might have something to do with the fact it's based on a true story. One with a heavy religious slant just right for the coming Yuletide holidays. Or maybe … Continue reading Film Review — Father Stu proves true miracles reside in daily mundanity
I best come clean. This won't be a film review like those I've previously done. Most definitely it will not even look like a conventional film review like you will get if you read, say The New York Times or The Guardian. It's just that after more than three decades, I've finally caught up this … Continue reading Film Review: “St Elmo’s Fire” (and the Brat Pack)
You're back! Great. Thanks for returning to the second part of this mini-series on film reviews. (If you're new here though, you might want to read Part 1 first) Last week I stated that the act of writing film reviews can be an excellent training ground for aspiring writers to hone their writing craft for … Continue reading Film reviews — a way to shape the writing craft (Part 2)
I've been pondering the power and place of film reviews ever since I took up a film criticism and analysis module nearly a decade ago, on my way to completing a Mass Comm Masters. Back then I took up the module for the simple fact that I, like millions of other folks around the world, … Continue reading Film reviews — a way to shape the writing craft (Part 1)
There's just something about the topic of time travel. It draws film makers time and time again to create movies about it. Ever since Back to the Future and Terminator, we've been overrun with such films, both memorable and miserable. In the former (other than the above-mentioned movies of course), I include Somewhere in Time, … Continue reading Film Review: “The Adam Project” (2022)
Right off the bat I best lay my cards out here in the open. First off, I've never reviewed a superhero film in my blog before. Good chance after this clumsy attempt I never will; but instead, return to reviewing family-friendly stuff like those I previously uploaded. Second, I'm not a fanboy of Batman (though … Continue reading Film Review: “The Batman” at his darkest!
