It’s Oscar time! Jonathan Crabb returns this week to talk all about the 2018 Academy Award-nominated films ahead of this Sunday’s awards ceremony. “Fan service well done is a good movie.” Jordan kicks off...
In the wild world of the screwball comedy, exotic cats can bring unlikely couples together, dunking a doughnut can be a romantic experience and grooms can be swapped out right before the trip down the aisle as needed.
Thanks to the blizzard that brought record snow to the D.C.-Virginia area this winter, I had a week off from full-time teaching. The snow days gave me time to finally getting around to seeing two important films that center on teachers: “Dead Poet’s Society” (1989) and “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (1995).
The former features the late, great Robin Williams as John Keating, English teacher at the prestigious, all-boys boarding school Welton Academy. From the first day of class, it’s clear Mr. Keating’s teaching methods are unorthodox at a prep school set on four immovable pillars: tradition, honor, discipline and excellence.
I’m an unapologetic fan of the Oscars. First and foremost, I enjoy the movies. But there is a certain political dance to the award season that I also find very entertaining (as if watching politics wasn’t aggravating enough for me).
This year I actually managed to watch every Best Picture nominee before the awards ceremony (this Sunday) and it’s a fine crop of films. From my favorite to least favorite:
“Fury Road” isn’t yet another male-centric action flick—it’s an incredibly bizarre yet strangely beautiful visual epic with a story arc that glorifies women.
I was curious about how many of the eight films nominated this year passed the Bechdel test with a scene, however brief, where two women with names exchange one or two sentences about something other than a man.
“Sisters” hardly breaks any new cinematic ground, but it’s a fun addition to the growing collection of movies I label “quietly feminist”—hit films like “Pitch Perfect” and “Trainwreck” that let women be raunchy and funny and multi-faceted.
This is by far the most inclusive “Star Wars” film yet.
Would “Home Alone” be the same without Catherine O’Hara’s speech in the middle of an airport? Have you really heard “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” if you haven’t teared up over the original (and heartbreaking) Judy Garland rendition in “Meet Me in St. Louis”?
