Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut, As They Made Us, is a solid first feature film that draws upon her own life experiences in grief. Bialik uses her own experiences as the basis for writing this film. It’s a film that I’m sure many will resonate with because there are no shortage of families with such experiences. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more scripts from the Blossom and The Big Bang Theory star. In watching the film,…
"As They Made Us: A Solid First Feature"
Dianna Agron spoke with Solzy at the Movies about Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut, As They Made Us, opening in theaters/VOD this week. The following interview took place in mid-March, hours before the Jewish holiday of Purim started. Amongst the subjects discussed is how Agron’s own Jewishness informed her approach to playing Abigail in the film and if she is considering directing a feature film. Written and directed by Bialik, the film stars Agron, Simon Helberg,…
"Dianna Agron talks As They Made Us"
The Recording Academy should be ashamed of themselves after awarding sexual harasser Louis CK with Best Comedy Album. I don’t typically pay attention to the Grammy Awards because I’m more focused on film. When the Grammy nominations were announced, I was busy watching The Beatles: Get Back or getting my Covid booster. Regardless, nobody in my circles even said a thing about Louis CK getting a nomination let alone Marilyn Manson. You could imagine my…
"Louis CK: Sexual Harasser Wins Best Comedy Album – Grammys"
Once again, J.K. Rowling manages to shoot herself in the foot by amplifying transphobia ahead of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. You would think that Warner Bros. would follow Focus Features and keep Rowling on a short leash. After all, that’s what Focus did with filmmaker Paul Schrader ahead of The Card Counter‘s release last year. It didn’t stop the filmmaker from using racial slurs in interviews but the studio tried. Whereas with Rowling,…
"Fantastic Beasts: J.K. Rowling Amplifies Transphobia"
Richard Linklater is back with an animated film, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, that is sure to be an awards contender. Animation is cinema and it is not only for children if you go by the film’s PG-13 rating. I’m not sure whether unique is the right word to use but there’s something about the visuals here that stand apart from watching other animated movies. Maybe it is the fact that they utilize…
"Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood"
Bruce Willis was one of the biggest action stars during the prime of his career but the actor is retiring due to an aphasia diagnosis. Aphasia is a cognitive condition that affects how one formulates and comprehends language. Having your lines fed through an earpiece is a terrible way to spend the final years of your acting career. But for Willis, this was his life over the past few years along with confusion upon arriving…
"Bruce Willis Retirement Leads To New Reflections"
As Jim Carrey makes his way through the Sonic 2 press tour, the actor announced that he is seriously considering a retirement from acting. Retirement from acting is one of those things that has to come at some point in an actor’s career. Unlike Bruce Willis, Carrey has the opportunity to retire at a time of his own choosing. But still, I cannot get over the fact that it took him until 2019 to make…
"Jim Carrey: Ace Ventura Star Thinking Of Retirement"
Judd Apatow’s new pandemic comedy, The Bubble, is the pandemic comedy that we’ve been waiting for and it is perfection. The Bubble follows the making of Cliff Beasts 6: Battle for Everest: Memories of a Requim. It’s the 6th film in one of the largest dinosaur franchises in cinematic history. Think a C-franchise version of Jurassic Park. Everyone is staying at the same hotel where there is no interaction with anyone else while quarantining. What…
"The Bubble: The Be-All, End-All Pandemic Comedy"
Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility, or TDOV for short, in 2022 and the state of things in America could not be any worse. I am an Orthodox Jewish transgender woman and frequently use these pages to write about film and television. Sometimes, my words are on other outlets like Below the Line or elsewhere. But right now, I cannot stay silent even though I would prefer nothing more than to just discuss film…
"Transgender Day of Visibility – TDOV 2022"
No Strings Attached, directed by Ivan Reitman, was the first of two sex friends romantic comedies to be released in 2011. With everything going on in early 2021, you couldn’t blame me for missing the tenth anniversary. Same goes for Friends with Benefits. The other film opened six months later but it’s the better of the two films. No Strings Attached turned out to be the penultimate film directed by Ivan Reitman. It’s in the…
"No Strings Attached: Another Sex Friends Rom-Com"