Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash Storytime with Wes Anderson: Review of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar By Geoff Carter It’s not very often that an established feature-length motion picture director will release a short feature. The New York Stories anthology film featured segments directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese. Quentin Tarantino directed …
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Category:Movies
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Embarrassment of Riches
Attribution: Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash By Geoff Carter Since the SAG and screenwriters’ strikes, there has been a lot of anxiety and handwringing about the anticipated dearth of new movies and television series. Without writers or actors, there will be no new productions—no new installments from the Marvel or the D.C. Universe, no new Star …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Don’t Worry, Darling”
Attribution: Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash You Don’t Own Me: Film Review of Don’t Worry, Darling By Geoff Carter The suburban housewife archetype has been around forever, particularly on television sitcoms. From June Cleaver to Samantha Stephens to Lucy Ricardo to Alice Kramden to Donna Stone—and many, many others, the elegantly dressed, immaculately coiffed, and coolly efficient …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Three”
Summer Hybrid: Film Review of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Three Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The summer blockbuster season of 2023 has seen some surprising box office hits as well as some equally stunning flops. Barbie and Oppenheimer—released on the same date and fondly nicknamed Barbenheimer—along with …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “She Said”
Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons The Sum of Its Parts: Film Review of She Said By Geoff Carter One of the most compelling and shocking news stories of 2017 was the downfall of Harvey Weinstein. This man–to use the term loosely–who was the head of Miramax Studios, and …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “White Noise”
Photo by John Jackson on Unsplash Out of the Din: Review of White Noise By Geoff Carter According to Merriam-Webster.com , white noise is defined as an heterogeneous mixture of sound waves extending over a wide frequency range, a constant background noise, or ameaningless or distracting commotion, hubbub, or chatter. In other words, all sound frequencies at the same time. …
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The Hired Gun
Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash By Geoff Carter According to the “Internet Movie Firearms Database”, which lists every type of firearm ever used in a Hollywood movie, over eleven types of pistols, seven types of revolvers, seven types of rifles, eight types of submachine guns, seven types of shotguns, two types of machine guns, and six other …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Oppenheimer”
Attribution: Burnt Pineapple Productions, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Prometheus Bound: Review of Oppenheimer By Geoff Carter As one of the most highly anticipated new releases of 2023, the movie Oppenheimer at first sight seems to be a bit ponderous to fit into the summer blockbuster category. Unlike Barbie, it does not seem to fit neatly into a film …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Barbie”
Attribution: Photo by Sandra Gabriel on Unsplash Pink is the New Black: Review of Barbie By Geoff Carter It used to be that movies were pretty much based on a straight narrative template. You know, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, yada yada yada… Then movie storylines started expanding and incorporating graphic novels, comic books, television series, and …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Creative Differences
Attribution: Eden, Janine and Jim from New York City, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The summer movie blockbuster season is underway. Ads and promotions for Warner Brother’s Barbie, Disney’s Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny, and Universal’s Oppenheimer have been saturating television, the internet, and all other social media. These traditional studio films boast all-star casts, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
Attribution: Gary Stewart Gary2880, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Living in the Past: Review of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny By Geoff Carter He is a movie hero of epic proportions, an icon, an institution, and an intellectual—a true renaissance man. He is, of course, Indiana Jones, the most unlikely sort of archeologist/action …
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The Same Old Story
By Geoff Carter Chris Favero from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons A segment of the film industry has been stuck in a self-induced rut for the past twenty years or so—which is not atypical. Once they find a successful formula, the big studios hang onto it, producing film after film after film based on …
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