Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter There have been instances when the sometimes all-too-thin lines between art and reality have intersected, crossed, and become blurred. The China Syndrome, a film about safety violations at a nuclear power plant, was released only twelve days before the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. Wag the …
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Category:Michael DiMilo
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Bugonia”
You Can’t Handle the Truth: Film Review of Bugonia ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The truth—as much as it’s ever discernible—is becoming more and more difficult to cull from the swarm of half-truths, misrepresentations, conspiracy theories and downright lies that have been flooding our media. Any semblance of objective truth has been …
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Illustration by Michael DiMilo
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere”
Hungry Heart: Review of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I’ve been a Bruce Springsteen fan my entire adult life. Going back to my college days listening to Greetings from Asbury Park and The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle, I—like millions of other fans—have been enthralled and excited …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “A House of Dynamite”
The Final Countdown: Film Review of A Houseful of Dynamite ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter Illustration by Michael DiMilo Call it techno-horror, apocalyptic cinema, or just plain science-fiction, but films about the dangers of military technology gone wild, especially when paired with the specter of nuclear annihilation, have been with us since the first days of …
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Princes of Darkness
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We’ve survived another Halloween season, which, regrettably (to me at least), is becoming more and more of a Hallmark holiday. Increasingly elaborate costumes, extravagant home decorations, and a growing cornucopia of movies and limited series have inundated us for weeks—if not months, but the psychopathic killers, monsters, aliens, …
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The Pen in Hand in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Highest 2 Lowest”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo New York City Serenade: Film Review of Highest 2 Lowest ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter There’s nothing like a Spike Lee joint. The man has a style like no other. Over the last forty-some years, the man has made masterpiece after masterpiece. Lee’s cinematic oeuvre ranges from poignant family dramas like Crooklyn to biting …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Weapons”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Wicked Smart: Film Review of Weapons ★★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter Last year, after I watched the “X” series of horror films including X, Pearl, and XXX, I was pleasantly surprised to discover filmmakers are still pushing the envelope to redefine the tropes of the horror genre, a trend I’d been following for some …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Steve”
School Daze: Movie Review of Steve ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The film industry has always been fascinated with the classroom. There is a long history of school-based movies going all the way back to Blackboard Jungle, Up the Down Staircase, and To Sir, With Love and extending to more recent offerings like Lean on Me, Stand …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Hiding Under the Bed: The Spookiest Halloween Movies of All Time
Photo by Skyler Sawyer on Unsplash By Geoff Carter (Originally published on October 31, 2020) I grew up in the sixties and seventies, in what might be called the golden age of the horror movie. Not only were we able to see films The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Scream and Scream Again at the drive-in theater, but every Saturday afternoons we …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Friendship”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Cringeworthy: Film Review of Friendship ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter Comedies like The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Flight of the Concords can be almost unbearably uncomfortable to watch—which is the point. Focusing on narcissistic characters whose social ineptness gets them into cringeworthy socially awkward situations, these programs produce moments that make the viewer simultaneously …
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Dialogues on American Ennui: Down in the Hole
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Michael D., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., and Geoff Carter Hello bots, Are you out there? Have we declared radio silence? Gone undercover? Or are we all laid up with Brewer fever—or the dreaded Parsons Disease? Writing as we’re headed out to …
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