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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Category:Movies
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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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Best 21st Century Drive-In Double Features
Attribution: RoyBuchanan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter A former cultural mainstay of my youth, the drive-in movie theater, is dying a slow death. Once one of the most ubiquitous entertainment institutions in the country—and what could possibly be more American? A venue that combines cars, movies, and parties. Of course. I, and millions …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies Film Review of “In the Hand of Dante”
Between Heaven and Hell: Film Review of In the Hand of Dante ★★☆☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter It’s been said that history repeats itself and that life imitates art. Sometimes taken in conjunction, these points can be foundational to the construction of unique cinematic narratives. Films like The French Lieutenant’s Woman and Possession use dual-timeline, historical …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Disclosure Day”
★★★ 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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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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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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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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