Netflix's The Mitchells vs. the Machines earned rave reviews for its combination of comic adventure, vocal talents, and its commentary on modern technology. Yet, its fresh and inventive animation style truly blew me away. I've really never seen that much like it before. It feels like a comic strip come to life with its unusual depth of field and tactile sense of hand-drawn animation. So, how did they do it? The filmmaking team led by producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller and director Mike Rianda give us insight into the process here in this behind the scenes look from Netflix....

Tu Me Manques is unlike anything I have ever seen. It is both a memoir and a dramatization of navigating the queer scene for the first time as well as a love letter to those we have lost to suicide. Rodrigo Bellott's film is hard to describe but very emotionally effective. Bellott's film begins with a tense Skype call between Jorge (Oscar Martinez) and Sebastian (Fernando Barbosa). Sebastian thinks that Jorge is merely butting heads with him because of his relationship with Jorge's son, Gabriel. Both men are from Bolivia where being out of the closet is still very much...

Academy Award-winner Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road) could very well be in the hunt for a third Oscar after seeing the intricate creations she fashioned (pun intended) for Disney's upcoming Cruella. The live action prequel explores the early days of the woman who would become Cruella de Vil (Emma Stone) as she wages fashion war against the Baroness (Emma Thompson). Given the fashion world setting of the film, costume design emerged as absolutely critical to the success of the film. That key important wasn't lost on Beavan, a veteran of classic costume dramas who won Oscars for the classic...

There probably isn't getting around it - this is the future of movies. I was watching Steven Spielberg's Minority Report last night, a movie I didn't think was that great when I first saw it but now believe it to be among his very best --if he hadn't made his name on Jaws, Raiders, E.T. and Schindler's List, anyone watching him work in this film for the first time would be likewise bedazzled by his talent. Minority Report was a big budget sci-fi that made a lot of money and has a somewhat challenging theme. I guess I had to...

To write this piece, I had to fix a major cinematic blind spot: I had never seen Moonstruck. Yes, I know, I know. And let’s face it, it would be irresponsible (if not downright reprehensible) to write an obit for Olympia Dukakis without having seen her most famous role. So, how does a cinephile and child of the ‘80s miss one of the most celebrated romantic comedies of that cherished decade? Well, I’m not the biggest romantic comedy guy for one. I rarely see any film rated PG that is about adults. I mean, what adults live PG-rated lives? I...

One of the best scenes, and main points, in Jim Brooks' unforgettable Broadcast News is when Aaron (Albert Brooks) says wryly out loud, "Let's never forget, we are the story." Broadcast News predicted what news would become only if we underestimated it. When I first started covering the Oscars there was no such thing as blogs. Opinion news had not yet overtaken actual news. I started my site to mimic an actual news site and I tried to make my own identity hidden and irrelevant. Most people didn't even know I was female for many years. But when the blogs...

Brian Tyree Henry has proven time and time again that he is one of the most magnetic actors working today. It doesn't matter if he's on stage in The Book of Mormon or on television in Donald Glover's Atlanta, Henry grabs your attention with his stoicism and his dark eyes. After so many years of being a dependable supporting player, he is given the chance to play a loose, lovelorn character in the charming The Outside Story. Henry plays Carter, a video editor who creates obituaries for famous actors before they die--one can't help but think of the criticism of the...

I am the parent of a nearly 17-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter. The boy is every bit his age, perfectly attuned to the intellectual and emotional boundaries of his age. It's a cliché, but the girl is literally 13 going on 30. For real. In fact, on our recent rewatch of Schitt's Creek, the girl's uncanny resemblance to Alexis Rose emerged as majorly unsettling. She even has that "Eww... David" thing down perfectly. Without ever having seen a second of the show. We are in trouble. This much I know is true. But that does indicate that my wife...

After this year's Oscars debacle, there's no question that the whole show needs to be rethought. Question is, can they ever be restored to their former glory, or should we try instead to salvage what's left of them, remodel the entire system, and update the Academy Awards in ways that make them more appealing to 21st Century audiences? Our good friend phantom made some suggestions yesterday and his ideas look like a good place to start: The cold hard truth is that regardless of how audience-friendly the nomination/ winner lineup is, the Oscar ceremony is supposed to be entertaining hence...

To fully appreciate Less Than Zero as a film requires the viewer to understand the source material—the nihilistic novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis about a group of vacuous young Los Angelenos having empty sex, empty experiences, empty everything. The film, written by first time screenwriter Harley Peyton and directed by Marek Kanievska, takes the shell of that novel and ditches almost all of Ellis’s zombie-like characterizations to create something altogether different—something human. Both the film and the book have become pop culture artifacts that many believe reflect all that was wrong with the ‘80s in terms...

When Disney/Pixar's Luca debuts on Disney+ June 18, viewers will find themselves magically transported to the picturesque seaside Italian town of Portorosso. Verdant Italian grasses cover mountains rising from the majestic Italian Riviera. Authentically rustic Italian buildings dot the landscape shielded by an impossibly blue sky. You can practically feel the sun on your skin and taste the luscious gelato and ever-present pasta. The film feels as close to a completely visceral experience as Pixar has produced to date. And that's exactly what director Enrico Casarosa and team wanted to achieve. © 2021 Disney/Pixar “I had...