What kind of a film viewer are you? I get the people who work jobs that they quietly despise. They come home with little to show for it beyond a small paycheck and a large feeling of frustration. All they want from their cinematic experience is to relax, be entertained, watch something to take their […]

Post traumatic stress disorder is a condition that’s highly individualized, and a person who served two tours in Afghanistan can have a very different experience from a person who experienced domestic violence. That also means that PTSD depicted in movies isn’t always recognized as the real thing. I understand that a certain amount of artistic […]

Fifteen years ago, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born with the release of Iron Man. It’s made billions of dollars. It’s had thirty-two entries released so far, another entry is up for release this year, and another nine and counting are in the pipeline.* Barring some kind of cultural cataclysm, I reckon the MCU will […]

It’s been said that entertainment in general, and American entertainment in particular, is too violent. For decades, there has been hand-wringing over the ever increasing cinematic bloodbaths taking place in theaters and televisions. “When, Lord!” they cried, “When will we return to a society that embraces love over hate, understanding over violence?”* We say we […]

I get that talking to me is not a great experience. The long-winded answers, questionable wit, and occasional maudlin emotion all makes for a conversational minefield. But I also have enough self-awareness to realize what happens when you think to yourself, “He’s the Movie Guy and I’m obligated to talk to him. I’ll ask him […]

Does sincere have to mean serious? A lot of filmmakers seem to think so. The idea exists that, in order to say something about the human condition, the yuk-yuks need to be tamped down. Why? Because if humor exists, it will inevitably leech away the essential emotional truth of a film. At least, that’s the […]

Approach is everything when it comes to movies. To paraphrase Ebert, it doesn’t matter what the movie is about, it matters how it is about it. Tone, character, pacing, all of it can change your opinion on a genre or style of film that you’d ordinarily blow off in a New York minute. For example, […]

Not long ago, reporter Chris Lee made a shocking accusation that, upon five seconds of thought, is not actually that shocking. Lee claimed that Marvel Studios intentionally hires filmmakers who are inexperienced in visual effects work.* This is allegedly done to assert a greater level of control over the decisions the directors make during production. […]

Of course I played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid. It shouldn’t be that surprising. I grew up in the Reagan-era 1980s, a nerdy kid who didn’t respond to sports, couldn’t relate to insecure machismo, and had a father who was a product of the World War II generation. He wanted me to play sports […]

Before Rain Man, I imagine the vast majority of people had no idea what autism or neurodivergence was. Of course there were families who did, and people who did, yet the cultural conversation hadn’t swung in their direction yet. When Rain Man was released in 1988, however, it hit like a bomb.  The fact that […]