Artwork by Michael DiMilo The Power of Love: Film Review of Past Lives By Geoff Carter ★★★★☆ The mythos surrounding love, infatuation, and desire is woven throughout the fabric of human existence. Classic romances like Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Orpheus and Eurydice, or Wuthering Heights only begin to tell love’s grand story. This story is everywhere. It permeates …
Read
Category:Movies
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies
Artwork by Michael DiMilo The Oscars: A No-Win Situation By Geoff Carter Like many fans of the cinema, we at The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies took a keen interest in the announcement of the 2024 Academy Award nominations, mostly because 2023 was such a phenomenal year for films. From the cutting-edge, envelope-pushing …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Anatomy of a Fall”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo ★★★★1/2 The Slippery Truth: Film Review of Anatomy of a Fall Truth, especially in today’s age of informational—and misinformational—excess, is an elusive beast. We are surrounded by conspiracy theorists, science skeptics, and straight-out liars. Politicians, pundits, and opportunists twist and bend the truth into weapons to further their—usually—personal and professional agendas. …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Poor Things”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo The Wide Wild World: Film Review of Poor Things By Geoff Carter The films of Yorgos Lanthimos tiptoe the blurry lines between fantasy and reality as they explore the tenuous relationships between subjectivity, reality, and existentialism. They are beautiful, but anything but typical. His films The Lobster, The Killing of Sacred Deer, …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Gangsters of the West: Film Review of Killers of the Flower Moon ★★★★★ Attribution: Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Martin Scorsese is one of the most versatile and gifted film directors working today. He has directed movies in a variety of genres, including psychological thrillers (Shutter …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “The Holdovers”
Attribution:Fernando de Sousa from Melbourne, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons All the Lonely People: Film Review of The Holdovers ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ By Geoff Carter The films of Alexander Payne are quintessential quest stories. In The Descendants, a middle-aged man tries to come to terms with his wife’s imminent death, understand her infidelities, …
Read
The Pen in Hand’s Guide to the Movies: Ringing in the New Year
Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash (Originally posted in December, 2020) By Geoff Carter We’re almost there. We only have one more day of 2023 to endure. It’s been a year of firsts. Some we would like to celebrate, others not so much. But New Year’s Eve is a time to look forward to fresh starts and renewed …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of “Maestro”
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 …
Read
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, …
Read
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, …
Read
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 …
Read
“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 …
Read