Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Asking the Right Questions: Film Review of Maestro By Geoff Carter To say that a creating a biopic of one of the most revered figures in the history in American music is an ambitious undertaking is a bit of an understatement. Yet Bradley …
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Category:Movies
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “A Disturbance in the Force”
(The Worst TV Christmas Special Ever) Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash When Worlds Collide: A Review of A Disturbance in the Force By Geoff Carter Own work based on unknown original creator, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Sitting in a crowded theater watching a movie is in many ways a solitary act. Viewers don’t—they’re not supposed to, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Defining the Holiday Genre: The “Die Hard” Question
Photo by Justin Campbell on Unsplash; By Geoff Carter At this festive time of year, many of us observe the holiday traditions of Christmas like trimming the tree, singing carols, buying the presents, visiting Santa, and on and on and on. Part of our celebration of the holiday includes seeing the myriads of Christmas movies and television specials, …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments
Attribution: Marek Slusarczyk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions are what makes our holidays special. We are lucky to be able to …
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“Just Like the Ones I Used to Know”: The Pen in Hand’s Guide to Vintage Christmas Movies
Photo by Geoffrey Carter (Originally published, December 10, 2021) By Geoff Carter Well, the Christmas season is upon us in full force. The commercials are everywhere. We’ve seen that ad for the car—or Energizer Bunny, wrapped in a bow and sitting in the driveway on Christmas morning at least one hundred times. Sometimes it’s hard to find the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Embarrassment of Scrooges
Attribution: MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (Originally published December 18, 2022) By Geoff Carter It’s only about a week until Christmas, and we’re into the full swing of the holiday season. Shopping, decorating, traveling, baking, wrapping, entertaining, and all the other painfully joyous activities are part of the annual hustle and bustle of the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “The Wonder”
Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Little Girl Lost: Movie Review of The Wonder By Geoff Carter The beginning of Sebastian Lelio’s The Wonder, an historical drama based in post-famine Ireland, is—strangely—framed with a shot of the movie set on which it is being made. A female narrator speaks directly …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Gueros”
Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons A Road to Nowhere: Film Review of Gueros By Geoff Carter Available on Netflix Cinema is the best of all visionary worlds because it incorporates so many elements of all the other artforms. It is a visual art. The frame can be as …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”
Attribution:Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Born to be Wild: Film Review of Hunt for the Wilderpeople By Geoff Carter There are filmmakers whose creative stamp is so distinctive that their films are recognizable almost from the opening credits. Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, and Quentin Tarantino fall into …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Death on the Nile”
Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous: Film Review of Death on the Nile Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter A few weeks ago, I reviewed Reptile, (Pen in Hand Review of Reptile), a Netflix murder mystery. While the film contained an interesting premise and had a promising beginning, I …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Neil Young: Heart of Gold”
Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Golden Years: Film Review of Neil Young: Heart of Gold By Geoff Carter The Ryman Auditorium: Nashville, Tennessee Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The concert film is a genre that is as idiosyncratic as the artists it documents. From the frenetic …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies : Film Review of “Big Eyes”
Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The Art of the Deal: Film Review of Big Eyes The film Big Eyes opens with a daring escape. The year is 1958. Margaret Ulbricht (Amy Adams) is—for reasons unknown to the audience—leaving a bad marriage, the irony of which soon becomes …
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