Tag: movies
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Random Thoughts on “The Godfather, Part 2”
Yes, we’re back to this. Again and again, I keep examining these movies. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Well, I’ll try to surprise you. Mostly because these are almost entirely nitpicks and complaints. Anyway… 1. Cazale Got Stepped Ova! No disrespect to DiNiro for winning Supporting Actor, but with hindsight it…
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The Great Superhero-Fantasy Movie Ranking (aka “Rank-narok”) Part. 4 – The TOP!
Dramatic music, long drawn out sweeping camera moves, all that stuff that we have come to believe makes a great movie… we have some of them here. Not a ton, but some! Yet despite those obvious flaws, I’ve got my top 24 ready to go. I’m sure more people will find things to argue about,…
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I Watched “Aquaman” For Some Reason!
Availability is everything. My grandfather lived his entire life in rural Illinois. However, in his later years (around the 2000’s), he once mentioned how his favorite basketball team was the Los Angeles Lakers. This seemed sacrilegious to me. He liked watching sports, sure, but I thought he favored local teams. The Bears, the Cardinals (it…
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Under the Silver Lake: WILD Theories
YES, I’m still thinking about this movie. And YES you can read more about it in prior posts here and here. And YES YES, I’m done with this intro. “Under the Silver Lake” is filled with lots of crazy conspiracy theories, puzzles and mysteries. Consequently, it has inspired viewers to look for patterns and clues…
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Under the Silver Lake: How to Watch It Wrong
Yes, more on this movie. And, yeah, it gets a little grumpy. Sorry. One of the ways modern movie viewing works is through an odd process. With slight variation, it goes like this: See the trailer for the movie Watch the movie Post on social media about the movie Look up other people’s social media…
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The Best On-Screen Writing Scene? Check out “Wu-Tang: An American Saga”
One of the hobbies of any writer is trying to figure out “how you do it.” There are tons of conventions, TedTalks, tutorials, classes and books whose subtext or selling point is that they will show you just how to actually do the writing. This is, of course, a fallacy since the way to write…
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Super Specific “Endgame” Thing
Just get it out of the way: I really like “Avengers: Endgame.” I think it’s a great finale to the whole series, I found some parts legitimately exciting and emotional and even though it’s enormous and there are probably things to complain about, I won’t. Except for this weird thing! Only because it involves the…
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Some of My All-Time Favorite Movie Scenes
Certainly not all of them. This is just something I wrote up on a break. But I stand by all of them for the moments they provide, for what they teach me about writing, and for just being plain great. And most of these are SCENES, with a beginning, middle and end. Anyway… PULP FICTION,…
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Making Pancakes In the Pancake Factory
As I semi-completed another screenplay, and I’ve been musing on my next career step, I’ve been contemplating the bigger picture of the World of Entertainment, and how a person can possibly survive in that world. I’ve been listening to podcasts again, been having lively critical(-ish) discussions with friends, and the ensuing stew has been brewing…
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“Man of Steel”
I have inside information which I believe perfectly illustrates just how clueless of a director (and possibly a writer… and maybe a human being) Zach Snyder is. It involves a minor spoiler, only in that it concerns one of the very last scenes in the movie, but that’s the whole point. I think we, as…
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Weighing In On Important Matters
Recent developments have led to a number of my friends asking me “Have you heard about THIS? What do you think about THIS?” Here, now, I address these important matters, of which there are only* two: 1.) The Release of Adam-West-style Batman toys. I’m mildly excited about this, even though they don’t look like “playable…
Phillip Mottaz 