Photo by Geoffrey Carter 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 spirit of Christmas amongst all …
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Category:Movies
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Eddington”
Don’t Fence Me In: Film Review of Eddington ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Films about conspiracy theories seem to be everywhere lately. After reviewing Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia, an incisively caustic black comedy about the conflicts between reality, beliefs, and alienation, I watched Ari Aster’sEddington, a neo-Western set during the Covid lockdown in 2020 …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Frankenstein”
Monsters: Film Review of Frankenstein ★★★1/2 Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Mary Woolstencraft Shelly’s gothic novel Frankenstein has gone through as many—or more—film iterations than any other horror story, except perhaps the Dracula franchise. Depending on the critical lens being used to examine it, the story can be seen as addressing issues of …
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Revolution Redux
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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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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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: Going Above and Beyond
In Honor of Veterans Day, 2025 The Ten Best War Movies Attribution: Capt. Saska Ball, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (Originally published in June, 2019) By Geoff Carter “…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly …
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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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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 Horror Films: The Next Generation
Attribution: Photo by Daniel on Unsplash By Geoff Carter (Revised October 22, 2025) The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer, and there’s a chill in the air. Frost is on the pumpkin. The leaves are turning color. All this means one thing—Halloween is just around the corner. And that means horror movies. Lots of them. …
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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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