April 2022

Music Video Jukebox

You Better Run (1981): Pat Benatar made her music video debut, and helped launch the MTV era

You Better Run by Pat Benatar was her first music video, the first of many that would legitimize the fledging format.

April 29, 2022

Oscar Best Picture

(2015) Spotlight: The low key, underrated newspaper drama was a surprise winner for Best Picture

Spotlight, the underrated newspaper drama went up against the flashier The Revenant for best picture. And the scrappy Spotlight emerged victorious.

April 28, 2022

Batman

Batman Returns (1992): Tim Burton’s sequel is beautiful, strange and silly all at the same time

Batman Returns finds Tim Burton indulging his visionary and offbeat tastes as a director. A far cry from the more corporate approved version of the original Batman.

April 25, 2022
1 Comment

Stage to Screen

The Phantom of the Opera (2004): The film version fails to capture the stagecraft magic of the Broadway phenomenon

The Broadway phenomenon "The Phantom of the Opera" finally made it to the silver screen in 2004. Yet the film fails to capture the immersive magic of the stage show.

April 22, 2022

Music Video Jukebox

The Life (2021): I want to go jogging with Felix Cartal

I'm new to the world of Canadian DJ and producer Felix Cartal but I'm eager to learn more. The music video "The Life" is a great start.

April 22, 2022

Captain America (2011): The MCU explores War World II in the First Avenger’s stylish origin story

Marvel was smart to hire Joe Johnston to direct the flagship Captain America movie. The result was a stylish period piece that does Cap proud.

April 20, 2022

Oscar Best Picture

(2016) Moonlight: The groundbreaking and intimate LGBTQ film that made Oscar history

Moonlight is an intimate look inside the black queer experience. And it became the first LGBTQ film to win the Best Picture Oscar.

April 19, 2022

Action

Godzilla(1998): The first American version of Godzilla is a bloated mess of a movie

Godzilla got his first big budget American film courtesy of over the top disaster auteur Roland Emmerich. The bloated movie tarnishes the legacy of the famed giant Japanese lizard.

April 19, 2022

Music Video Jukebox

Burning Up (1983): Madonna burns with fire and ambition in her first hi-profile music video

Burning Up was Madonna's first hi-concept music video. As the material girl's fame blossomed she would become a pioneer of the new art form.

April 14, 2022

Random Thoughts

My Sexy Friends in the City

"Friends" and "Sex & The City" are 90s time capsules of the Clinton era. Chad revisits these vintage comedies in the streaming era.

April 12, 2022
2 Comments

Stage to Screen

Chicago: 20 years later the screen version of the Bob Fosse classic still razzle dazzles

Chicago is one of the gold standards on how you translate a stage musical into a cinematic film. Rob Marshall's inventive take on the Bob Fosse classic helped reignite the modern era of movie musicals.

April 11, 2022

Thor (2011): The first Thor is a solid but underwhelming introduction to the mystical realm of Asgard

The original Thor is a handsome and engaging film directed by Kenneth Branagh. But this MCU entry is missing the epic and grand quality the Norse God of Thunder deserves.

April 11, 2022