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, at least—interact with each other during …
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Category:Movies
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Gods of Mexico”
Photo by Geoff Carter In Gods’ Country: Film Review of Gods of Mexico The term documentary is defined, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, as a “…motion picture that shapes and interprets factual material for purposes of education or entertainment.” For myself, the term “documentary” brings up images from An Inconvenient Truth, Gimme Shelter, Woodstock, Night and Fog, Harlan County, U.S.A., Nanook of …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Milwaukee Film Festival
Something for Everybody: Festival Season Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/23LET4Hxj_U By Geoff Carter Milwaukee Film, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons For the Milwaukee film fan, or any cinephile who enjoys straying off the beaten path occasionally, the Milwaukee Film Festival is one of the best times of the year. I like to think of this event …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of Oscar-Nominated Short Animated Films
Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Broadest of Spectrums: Reviews of Oscar-Nominated Short Animated Films By Geoff Carter My wife and I have made it an annual tradition to trek to the local movie theater and see the Oscar-nominated Best Short Subject Films, both the animated …
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And Justice for All: The Cultural Work of Film Violence
Photo by Krists Luhaers on Unsplash By Geoff Carter Movies are by far the dominant popular art form in American. Books have become nearly passe. Theater is hanging on, not quite dead yet, but definitely not the force it used to be. Sports, particularly football and basketball, are still popular, but the laconic and deliberate former national pastime—baseball—has …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of Oscar Nominated Short Live Films
Photo by Sam McGhee on Unsplash Less is More: Film Reviews of Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts By Geoff Carter My wife and I have made it an annual tradition to trek to the local movie theater and see the Oscar-nominated Best Short Subject Films, both the animated and live action categories. Not only is it a treat …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “RRR”
Dani Charles Silverscreen Media Inc. (https://silverscreen.in), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Epic Fun: Film Review of RRR by Geoff Carter From nearly the first frame of the epic film RRR, the viewer is whisked up and taken on an incredible whirlwind of frenetic action, reimagined history, fantastically exotic settings, espionage, revolution, brotherhood, and—really?—a phenomenally exuberant …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: And the Winner is….
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Reflections on the Academy Awards Well, the viewing world—18.7 million people—survived another Academy Awards presentation. The program itself, a three plus hour marathon of Hollywood stargazing, Vegas style theatrics, straight-out kitsch, high fashion, and sometimes genuine unabashed emotion, is, as always, eminently predictable …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Photo by Liam McGarry on Unsplash All Over the Place: Film Review of Everything Everywhere All at Once By Geoff Carter Everything Everywhere All at Once is a film that does more than live up to its name. It is a frantic roller coaster ride to the ends of the universe—and back, a sci-fi thriller (sort of a Matrix redux involving …
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Dialogues on Working the Culture: Bloody Dreams on the Silver Screen
Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/PEJHULxUHZs Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S. Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter Hey bots, I wrote this a couple weeks ago and thought it might be a good jumping-off point for a new thread. -G Justice For All? Violence at the Movies Movies are by far …
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Disenchantment
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Disney World, the mother of all family theme parks, is based just outside of Orlando, Florida. Its component pieces, EPCOT, The Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, span over 27,000 acres—about 43 square miles—and rake in huge profits—over twenty-seven billion dollars in 2022 alone. It is …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “All Quiet on the Western Front”
Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash Life in the Trenches: Film Review of All Quiet on the Western Front By Geoff Carter Since the 1998 release of the Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking epic Saving Private Ryan, war films have undergone a number of profound stylistic transformations. Spielberg’s use of desaturated color, alternating camera speeds, flattened lenses, blood-spattered lenses, and shaky …
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