Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★1/2 Long-Distance Relationship: Film Review of The Gorge By Geoff Carter Genre movies have come (or gone) a long way. It used to be that a spy movie was just a spy movie. We could always trust James Bond to be suave, sophisticated, and deadly—and his movies to be fun romps. …
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Category:Michael DiMilo
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Josie and the Pussycats”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★★★ What’s New, Pussycat?: Review of Josie and the Pussycats By Geoff Carter Our favorite theater, The Oriental, is part of Milwaukee Film, a non-profit institution dedicated to (according to their mission statement) “entertaining, educating, and engaging our community through cinematic experiences… where we are committed to high-quality and accessible film programming.” (MKE …
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Dialogues on Robber Barons 2.0: This Land is My Land
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., and Geoff Carter Bots, Not a lot has been spewed on this thread regarding Trump’s power grab in Washington. So I’ll launch an opening shot. As I write–and things are changing rapidly–several of Trump’s Executive Orders (EOs) have been …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “The Apprentice”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★1/2 The Art of Greed: Film Review of The Apprentice By Geoff Carter One of the timeliest films to come out this year was The Apprentice, a biopic of Donald Trump’s life as a young man and his subsequent career as a ruthless and unscrupulous businessman. Even fans of Donald Trump might find …
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View to a Drowning
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In November of 2024, a disturbing incident was reported at the River Ouse near Yorkshire, England. According to the Sun, a man had fallen in the freezing water and a crowd gathered to watch as he struggled in the water, seemingly drowning. No one moved to assist him. Members of …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Sing Sing”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Hard Time: Film Review of Sing Sing ★★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter Prison films have been a Hollywood staple for years. I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, The Birdman of Alcatraz, The Green Mile, Cool Hand Luke, The Shawshank Redemption, and many, many more have all tried to depict the struggles, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Oscar Rubric
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter . In sports, winners and losers are determined by how many points they score. Some measure success by the size of a bank account or fame, but there are other more subtle metrics. When I taught English, it was a requirement of the job to develop a rubric, …
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Taken for Granted
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter “Don’t it always seem to go/ That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone/” –“Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell Humans have a peculiar tendency to become quickly accustomed to surrounding circumstances—particularly good circumstances—and then to subsequently take them for granted. The excitement of getting a …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Nickel Boys”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes ★★★★☆ Collective Memories : Film Review of Nickel Boys By Geoff Carter Memories come in flashes, snippets of sound, images, smells, sensations, or any combination of these. An assemblage of these recollections, like old snapshots, can recreate a life, a childhood, or a tragedy. Film is physically, in …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “The Brutalist”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Wretched Refuse: Review of The Brutalist ★★★★☆ By Geoff Carter Brutalism: noun To gain insight into both the immigrant experience and psychological subtleties of Brady Corbet’s monumental epic film The Brutalist, an understanding of the film’s protagonist Laszlo Toth’s (Adrian Brody) obsessions with the brutalist architectural school are helpful. Brutalism is concerned with …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Ten Best Valentine’s Day Movies
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Top Ten Romantic Films By Geoff Carter (Originally published on February 14, 2024) It’s Valentine’s Day. Love is in the air, but those of us who choose to enjoy a warm and cozy evening inside, finding that perfect romantic movie is the perfect way to enjoy that special someone. So, rather …
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Mighty Love
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Originally Published 2/14/2022 By Geoff Carter In her novel Surfacing, Margaret Atwood wrote “The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them, there ought to be as many for love.” She‘s probably right, although what passes for love today might not be as important to us as snow …
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