The best thing that one can say about the new HBO drama, Succession, is that it is the dramatic version of Arrested Development. After that, it gets tricky. The series follows around the family of Logan Roy (Brian Cox), the CEO of Waystar Royco. As the series starts, it’s assumed that Logan Roy would be retiring from the company. After all, he’s 80 years old and can’t keep doing the job forever. He’s married to his…
"Succession: The Dramatic Arrested Development"
Izzy Gets the F Across Town may mean well but the small indie comedy tends to be a bit of a mess. Mackenzie Davis does her best to carry the film in the titular role of Izzy but it’s not enough to keep the film going. Given where she is at the start of the film, it’s as if the film is the indie version of the classic comedy, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. We go from…
"Izzy Gets the F Across Town is messy"
Tommy Avallone spoke to Solzy at the Movies ahead of the Cinepocalypse screening of The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From A Mythical Man. The film premiered at SXSW in March and will be holding the Midwest premiere on Saturday afternoon at the historic Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Thanks for joining us today. How are things treating you? Tommy Avallone: I’m doing good. It’s 10 AM here. I’m a little late starting my day but…
"Tommy Avallone talks The Bill Murray Stories"
Writer-director Marc-Antoine Lemire and actress Pascale Drevillon took the time this week to speak to Solzy at the Movies about the short film, Pre-Drink. The film will screen on Friday during the 42nd San Francisco International LGBTQ Film Festival. Thanks for joining us and congrats on Pre-Drink being selected for Frameline. Marc-Antoine Lemire: Thank you for having us! Pascale Drevillon: Thank you, we’re very happy with the film’s success so far! Where did the idea for…
"Frameline 2018: Marc-Antoine Lemire, Pascale Drevillon talk Pre-Drink"
Three years after the Indominus Rex caused chaos, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom raises the stakes with moral questions of ethical behavior. Bookended by Dr. Ian Malcolm in what amounts to an under-five minute cameo, the film is about what to do with these animals after geneticists have brought them back to life. Leave it to Malcolm to give his piece of mind while testifying in front of a U.S. Senate committee–using dialogue that, for the…
"Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Raises The Stakes"
The Catcher Was A Spy is a period film that combines baseball, espionage, and war. The film plays more as a drama than a thriller. Espionage films usually mean people kicking ass, but it’s not what happens in The Catcher Was A Spy, unless you’re referring to one’s intellect. Pardon the pun but it’s a nice curveball for the genre. One should not expect to get a James Bond movie even though Bond is what…
"The Catcher Was A Spy: Baseball and Espionage"
Robert Mapplethorpe’s story is one that’s best told as a documentary as the narrative feature, Mapplethorpe, does not do him justice. It’s unfortunate because Mapplethorpe (Matt Smith) was such an iconic photographer. Nearly 30 years following his death from AIDS in 1989, his photos are still a big part of cultural history. The film starts just before Mapplethorpe moves into the Hotel Chelsea in the late 1960s, where he’s living with Patti Smith (Marianne Rendón)…
"Frameline 2018: Mapplethorpe"
A wholly original film with a twist you never see coming, Damsel is a hysterical western from the minds of David Zellner and Nathan Zellner. Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson) has tracked down the location of the woman he plans to marry, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska). As he sets through in his journey, he hires Parson Henry (David Zellner) to officiate the wedding when he finds his future bride in addition to a gift, a miniature horse called Butterscotch. Samuel…
"Damsel: A Wholly Original Western"
With the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom this week, I decided to give Jurassic World a revisit. Fourteen years after the events of Jurassic Park 3, a new park has been up and running for ten years on Isla Nublar. This is the same island in which Jurassic Park was introduced in 1993. A lot has changed over the years since Jurassic Park graced the cinemas. It’s enough that the screenplay manages to serve as…
"Upon Further Review: Jurassic World"
With some of the biggest names in comedy behind its production, Caddyshack may very well be the funniest sports movie of all time. I first saw the film several years ago while on my mission to watch all 100 films chosen by the American Film Institute’s 100 Years, 100 Laughs in 2000. I decided to give the film a re-watch not just because it’s a classic sports film but also in light of the recently…
"Caddyshack Holds Up With New Perspective"