HAMILTON on Disney Plus, Next Best Thing to Being in the Room Where It Happened
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Lin-Manuel Miranda perform “Alexander Hamilton.” No, it wasn’t on Broadway. And it wasn’t an original cast recording of the hit musical. It was actually several years before HAMILTON would even open on Broadway – 2009, to be specific. At the White House. Known then as “The Hamilton […]
Movie Review: ‘America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill’ Spotlights a Resilient St. Louis Neighborhood
In America’s Last Little Italy: The Hill director Joseph Puleo concisely captures the history of one of St. Louis’ most storied neighborhoods in an informative and engaging documentary film. Joined by producer/editor Steve Cakouros and executive producer Rio Vitale, the film traces the neighborhood’s social and cultural heritage from the late 1800s to the present. Two […]
Retro Movie Review: CLIFFHANGER Starring Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow
For this retro review, we are going back to 1993. Back to a time when Sylvester Stallone’s muscles were as big as his box-office clout. Back when action movies were action movies. Cliffhanger is without a doubt one of Stallone’s finest action films. It’s also director Renny Harlin’s best work. There’s not much bad to […]
Movie Review: THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND Starring Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei
Judd Apatow is a filmmaker who is not afraid to take chances. While he can bring the laughs with films like 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, he’s not afraid to get sentimental and tackle emotionally charged topics. Funny People was a prime example of that as Adam Sandler deals with learning he has cancer. […]
Retro Review: DOGMA Starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino
Yes, I realize 1999 wasn’t that long ago. 21 years ago, St. Louis had a football team, I had a head full of hair and sagging was cool. 21 years later, my hair is gone and now the in-style is wearing pants so tight it shows off your camel toe. Yeah, I wish some things […]
Movie Review: BLOW THE MAN DOWN Starring David Coffin, David Pridemore, Adam Wolf Mayerson
As one of my favorite television shows likes to point out: bad gas travels fast in a small town. And so it is in Easter Cove, the setting for Blow the Man Down. It’s a tiny fishing community in New England that, if you’re old enough to remember, may remind you a bit of the […]
Movie Review: THE HUNT Starring Betty Gilpin, Hilary Swank, Ike Barinholtz
Friday the 13th of this March sees the release of the anticipated political thriller The Hunt, directed by Craig Zobel. Shelved since the film’s original release date of September 27th, 2019 – the film used its delay as a marketing source, drumming up some excitement for its release using the tagline “The most talked about […]
Movie Review: Disney-Pixar ONWARD Starring Chris Pratt, Tom Holland
Onward is the twenty-second film being added to the Disney/Pixar catalog and the first of two releasing in 2020. In its opening minutes, the film presents us with the world as it once was – vibrant lands filled with magic and mythical creatures like fairies, unicorns and elves. The element of magic is present in […]
Movie Review: STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN Starring Ben Schwartz, Billy Crystal, Grace Gummer
Things don’t always work out the way you want them to. Sometimes you move away from home and become a big star. And other times, more often than not, you decide to move back home. The latter is what happens in Matt Ratner’s feature directorial debut Standing Up, Falling Down, a beautifully tragic study of […]
Movie Review: THE CALL OF THE WILD Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Gillan, Cara Gee
I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something inherently romantic with the Yukon wilderness. It’s hard to nail down exactly what it is: perhaps it’s the idea of exploring the pristine, undisturbed world of the Yukon. Or perhaps the romanticized notion of striking it incredibly rich on your own. When I was growing up, […]