Windfall: A Hitchcockian Thriller

Windfall is a solid Hitchcockian thriller that makes the best use of both location and a minimal cast during the pandemic. The least you know about Windfall, the better it is. What I can tell you is that the focus is on a CEO (Jesse Plemons), his wife (Lily Collins), and a robber that we only know as Nobody (Jason Segel). The couple is arriving to their vacation home while this guy is in the…

"Windfall: A Hitchcockian Thriller"

Mank: A Look Back At Classic Hollywood

Mank, directed by David Fincher, takes a look back at 1930s Hollywood through the eyes of Oscar-winning screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. If there is one thing that Mank gets right, it’s Herman J. Mankiewicz being an alcoholic.  Well, that and writing Citizen Kane.  Oh, and the drama with Orson Welles (Tom Burke) over credit for writing the screenplay.  This is where I must recommend Sydney Ladensohn Stern’s biography, The Brothers Mankiewicz. We know that Mank…

"Mank: A Look Back At Classic Hollywood"

Tolkien: No Simple Walk Through Mordor

It’s no simple walk through Mordor as we get a glimpse at the early years of The Lord of the Rings creator J.R.R. Tolkien in Tolkien. There’s a lot of flashing back in the film between the J.R.R. Tolkien’s (Harry Gilby/Nicholas Hoult) childhood, college days, and World War 1.  These childhood bonds do play a role when it comes to creating the fellowship in the books.  An orphan upon entering King Edward’s School in Birmingham…

"Tolkien: No Simple Walk Through Mordor"

Sundance 2019: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile manages to glorify subject Ted Bundy in a manner that does not even show his violent ways at all. Theodore Robert “Ted Bundy (Zac Efron) killed over 30 women in under five years.  Even though law enforcement officials had a number on his back, he continually denied these actions through the Florida trial.  It’s this particular trial that plays the biggest part of the film.  Yes, there’s the home…

"Sundance 2019: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile"