Road Trip: Film Review of It Ends ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In the film Groundhog Day, protagonist Phil (Bill Murray) is caught in some sort of metaphysical time loop and forced to relive one particular day—Groundhog Day—over and over again. Trying everything from larceny to suicide as ways to find release from …
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Category:Michael DiMilo
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Coyote -vs- Acme”
Lawyers, Puns, and Bunnies: Film Review of Coyote -vs- Acme ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter As early as 1919, animation pioneer Max Fleischer was experimenting with combining live-action film with his cartoon creations, culminating in his groundbreaking Koko the Clown films. In the 1920s, Walt Disney produced the Alice Comedies in which Alice, a live actress, …
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Winners and Losers
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We live in a society that has become increasingly transactional, functioning almost exclusively under a quid pro quo sensibility. Tit for tat and this for that. One for me and one for you. All for one and all for me—and so on. At a certain age, a person …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Invite”
Tainted Love: Film Review of The Invite ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter It’s not often when a film combines sexual sophistication, bedroom farce, and the bloody marrow of marital strife into a watchable film, let alone one of the most watchable films in recent memory. The Invite is one of those few instances where …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Mayday”
From Russia With Love: Film Review of Mayday ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Top Gun was an incredibly popular film and, some may argue, a significant cultural phenomenon. It even spawned a sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, thirty-six years after the original. With incredibly well-staged battle scenes, state-of-the-art military technology, and the independent audacity of …
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Tipping Point
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last week, Florida Representative Maria Elvira Salazar broke ranks with the Republican ranks by airing a television ad critical of Trump’s deportation policies. Speaking directly to the camera, she said “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” warning him that Hispanic voters who …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Mother Mary”
Connective Tissue: Film Review of Mother Mary ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The Hollywood buddy film is a time-tested audience favorite. Movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Odd Couple, and Lethal Weapon have been immensely popular, spawning endless sequels and spinoffs. Of course, the concept of two guys teaming up …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Normal”
The New Normal: Film Review of Normal ★★☆☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter It’s a familiar story; a stalwart lawman comes to a wild town and tames it. We’ve seen John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, and many other Hollywood sheriffs do it. It’s a time-honored and somewhat worn cinematic trope, as are …
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Working Class Blues
Illustrated by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter (Originally published September 7, 2025) We marched in the Labor Day parade last year. I fell in with my old union, the MTEA, as we lined up with firefighters, machinists, ironworkers, electricians, plumbers, and hospitality workers. Thousands participated. It can be argued that what truly made America great was …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Drama”
Or For Worse: Movie Review of The Drama ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter In the film Michael Clayton, Richard Bach—as played by Sydney Pollack—one of the partners in the law firm Michael works for, responds to Michael’s question about why another lawyer committed suicide with “Why? Because people are fucking incomprehensible.” He’s right. No …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass”
Tit for Tat: Review of Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Slapstick, satire, parody, black comedy, the rom-com, and screwball comedies. Everything from Duck Soup to Dr. Strangelove to A Fish Called Wanda to Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail to Bringing up Baby to Young Frankenstein to Idiocracy falls under the umbrella of film comedy, but …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Last House”
★★★☆☆ A House Divided: Review of The Last House Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter There has been an abundance of movies about isolation, particularly pertaining surviving alone in the natural world. Castaway, Gravity, The Revenant, Into the Wild, All is Lost and 127 Hours exemplify this man (or woman) versus nature narrative. Another not uncommon subgenre is …
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