★★★ 1/2 Handling the Truth: Film Review of Disclosure Day Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Steven Spielberg has had a long and storied relationship with aliens in his canon of cinematic masterpieces. From the adorable E.T. to the wondrously communicative and benevolent aliens in 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind to the horrors of the malignant …
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Category:Michael DiMilo
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Odyssey”
Lost: Film Review of The Odyssey ★★★★ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Film versions of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, and most other Greek and Roman myths, are often framed as epic tales of mortal men struggling to control their own lives. In movies like Jason and the Argonauts or Clash of the Titans, the gods are …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “How to Make a Killing”
No Mystery: Film Review of How to Make a Killing ★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The definition of film noir found in the dictionary probably has a picture of Humphrey Bogart smoking a cigarette and holding a revolver next to it. Look up femme fatale and you’ll find a black and white …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Undertone”
Inner Demons: Film Review of Undertone ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter These are scary times—not only in an existential sense, but also in the world of cinema, specifically in the arena of the horror film. In recent weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to review Obsession, Backrooms, Companion, The Bride, Frankenstein, Weapons, Send Help, and Good …
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Perspective
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter At times, it’s difficult to see what’s right under your nose, or to see change happening over time, like when you haven’t seen a niece or nephew for a few months and are amazed at how much they’ve grown or to see how much a beloved uncle has …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Project Hail Mary”
Joyride: Film Review of Project Hail Mary ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Movies can be art, movies can be social commentary, movies be instructional, but mostly—in reality—movies can be, and are, entertaining. They have to be, at least in this country because the film industry is a business, and feeling good is …
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Independence Day
(Last published July 4th, 2025, but–unfortunately, it is as timely now as it was then) Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Our nation is celebrating The Fourth of July today. Any American can—hopefully—tell you what this holiday is all about. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, severing …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”
★★★1/2 Deja Vu All Over Again: Film Review of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die Image by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Even during a time when genre films have been stretching the envelope of their traditional tropes (cliches?) and norms, there is no easy way to describe Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die. It’s part …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Backrooms”
Down the Rabbit Holes: Review of Backrooms ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Cinema has a unique ability to embody the subjective conscious—and unconscious—through a purely visual narrative. In short, it has the ability to create nightmares. It could be argued that literature, the theater, and music can also effectively get in a …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Obsession”
Careful What You Wish For: Review of Obsession ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In past reviews, I’ve written a fair amount about the renaissance of the horror genre in today’s cinema and these modern filmmakers’ expansion of the traditional genre tropes to include issues of social and cultural importance. It’s not just …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “No Other Choice”
Working Stiffs: Review of No Other Choice ★★★★ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Park Chan-wook’s black comedy thriller No Other Choice opens with an idyllic sequence of suburban family life in South Korea. A father, Yoo Man-su (Lee Byung-Hun), is grilling in the backyard of his childhood home with his family. His beautiful wife Lee …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Wuthering Heights”
Domination Nation: Film Review of Wuthering Heights ★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the romantic epic spanning generations has been made, remade, reimagined, mounted onstage, and has even been transformed into a musical, an opera, and a graphic novel. It is a narrative whose thematic threads have been co-opted by elements …
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