By Brian Skutle When “A League of Their Own” was in theatres in 1992, I remember my mom and grandfather and I going to see it. I thought it was a good movie, and it was something we taped off of HBO to watch. I was going on 15, though, and relatively new to really starting to watch movies on a regular basis, so the … Continue reading 30 Years Later, “A League of Their Own” Still Wins
Since the dawn of stories, sequels have been a dominant form of art. And there are a plethora of challenges that come with creating new adventures for familiar characters. Pixar’s Toy Story franchise isn’t new to the concept of a sequel, and outlines some of the best sequels of all time. These films hold a 98% average on Rotten Tomatoes and have grossed more money with each subsequent entry. And for my money, “Toy Story 4” is the best of the bunch. Continue reading Toy Story 4 Review: Animated April
“I can’t stand romantic comedies.” We’ve all met someone like this. Whether or not this is a genre that you like, love, or simply feel abhorrently about, I believe that there are some classics that are embedded in the history of film that can’t be discredited. Ones that warm even the coldest or most cynical of us.
Since I think that these lie within the very fabric of what makes movies like this so comforting, these are five I’d suggest for anyone. However, we all have our own tastes and sentimental trappings when it comes to ”feel good” cinema, or “cry your eyes out” romance. Find your own, but if you need help, check these out. Continue reading Five Romantic Comedies That Are Hard Not to Love
Heller’s “A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood” encapsulates everything which made Fred Rogers such an inspiration to children over the years, and the film carries its message of goodness and love so sincerely that even in this increasingly cynical world. Continue reading ITOL 2019 Round-Up: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Mr. Rogers. A figure who defined the childhoods of many individuals. He was the subject of 2018’s documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” Now, with “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019), Mr. Rogers is once again teaching us the importance of having faith in each other.
The film does not follow Mr. Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) solely. It explores the world of make believe and Mr. Rogers through the eyes of journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys). Lloyd works for Esquire and is assigned to cover Mr. Rogers for the magazine’s issue on heroes. Lloyd is skeptical of the wonderous man with his puppets. As an audience, we learn to understand what makes Lloyd so skeptical. He is a new father and the fears he already has about being a new father are compounded by the re-emergence of his estranged father (Chris Cooper). Continue reading Review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Last year, audiences were asked a simple question from a documentary about an iconic symbol of goodness – Won’t you be my neighbor? Ah, yes, I’m talking about the heartfelt documentary about Fred Rogers from director Morgan Neville that won the hearts of critics and audiences, but oddly didn’t enough love to earn, or even be nominated for, many major awards. It was actually one of the most talked about and head scratching snubs of last year, however, it seems like Mr. Rogers will find another chance for award recognition this year as director Marielle Heller crafts a heart-warming and heartfelt film that displays the raw power of good that comes from the iconic figure with “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”. Continue reading Review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
“Cloud Atlas” (2012) is not an easy film to understand. In this sense, it owes a debt to another film about time, space and mankind’s cyclical movement through both, Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968). Whereas Kubrick asked where mankind was going, directors Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, and Lilly Wachowski seem to answer that wherever we’re going, we’ve been there before.
“Cloud Atlas” defies a simple plot summary. It is essentially a series of interconnecting stories of people who live and die in different eras of time but who might be the same people reincarnated to face similar challenges repeatedly in an attempt to change the course of mankind’s fate. The truth at the heart of the film is that all of humankind are metaphorically like the multitude of drops that make up an ocean. Continue reading ITOL Top 50 Films of the Decade, Entry No. 47: Cloud Atlas
In Their Own League 