A Rare Breed: Review of Death of a Unicorn Illustration by Michael DiMIlo ★★★★☆ By Geoff Carter Every now and then a movie comes along that not only stretches the envelope but tears it wide open, combining usually disparate elements or sensibilities into a new and unique vision. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a good example …
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Category:Movies
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Opus”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★☆☆ Starstruck: Review of Opus By Geoff Carter A24 has become synonymous with originality, daring, and independence in the film industry. It is also typically synonymous with quality. With quirky and beautiful productions like Queer, Ghost Story, The Witch, Midsommar, and Oscar winners like Ladybird, Moonlight, and Everything Everywhere All at Once—and dozens more great …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of John Goodman
Attribution: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter He is not one of your pretty boys. As his character Lewis Fine says in True Stories, “I’m six-foot-three and maintain a very consistent panda bear shape”. John Goodman is a big guy and a huge presence in every film he in which he appears. …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of Jodie Foster
Attribution: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Jodie Foster has been an actor nearly her entire life–over fifty years. We’ve literally watched her grow up on the screen. From a youngster in a Coppertone commercial to a precocious Disney child star in Napolean and Samantha, Candleshoe, and the original Freaky Friday, she graduated to more …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of Gary Oldman
Attribution: Brett Cove at https://www.flickr.com/photos/brettdcove/, GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter There is no more unique actor–or screen villain–than Gary Oldman. He can be the epitome of sadism, malevolence, or violence, but he can also be suave and charming—though he is never entirely trustworthy, even when portraying Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour or George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of Woody Harrelson
Attribution: LBJ Library c/o: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter It seems as if he can do anything on the screen. He can be funny, scary, charismatic, lovable, vulnerable, sadistic, romantic, or eminently unlikable—or any combination of the above. Woody Harrelson is one of those actors who can slip in …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of Nicolas Cage
Attribution: Kirk Weaver, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter It seems as if Nicolas Cage has been making movies forever—and for good reason. Having made over one hundred film appearances made over his forty-plus-year career, his presence on streaming channels, cable TV, and movie theaters is ubiquitous. The guy is everywhere. Turn on …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: A Tribute to Father’s Day
Photo by Sabine van Straaten on Unsplash A Tribute to Father’s Day: Ten Unforgettable Celluloid Dads By Geoff Carter (Originally published June 12th, 2023) It’s that time of year when we’re once again celebrating the patriarch, the pater familia, the big man, the king daddy, and the head of the family. It’s Father’s Day. Master of the grill, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Phoenician Scheme”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★★☆ The Grand Scheme of Things: Review of The Phoenician Scheme By Geoff Carter There are certain filmmakers whose work could never be mistaken for another’s. Scorsese, Tarantino, or Spielberg films all bear the obvious fingerprints of their creators, but the stylistic quirks of no auteur is more obvious—or enjoyable—than those …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Mickey 17”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo ★★★★☆ The Disposable Man: Review of Mickey 17 By Geoff Carter You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get with a Bong Joon Ho film. From the linear class battle laid out in Snowpiercer to the convoluted twists and hidden spaces of Parasite to the heart-rending pathos and bioethics of Okja, his movies tend to …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Sinners”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Immortal Sins: Movie Review of Sinners ★★★★☆ By Geoff Carter Movies can be larger than life which is—of course—a great part of their appeal. It always has been. Spectacles like D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance, the 1963 Twentieth Century-Fox version of Cleopatra, or the more recent Babylon, movies featuring “a cast of thousands”, lavish sets, and …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Going Above and Beyond
The Ten Best War Movies 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 resolve that these dead shall not have …
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