Summer Arthouse: "The Swimmer"

Everybody has their favorite summer flick.  Those of a nautical bent usually prefer "Jaws" or "The Shallows,"  while hydrophobic landlubbers usually gravitate towards drier fare, such as "Summer Rental" or "Fiddler on the Roof."  For me, a movie can't be properly considered "summer" without referencing the quintessential suburban experience of dipping into a swimming pool to escape a hot summer day.  With that proviso in mind, one of my favorite summer movies has to be Frank and Eleanor Perry's The Swimmer. 

Reviewed: Netflix's "Love Death + Robots"

Whenever I watch some Netflix original production, I am reminded of the words of Omar Bradley who chided the world for being one of "nuclear giants and ethical infants."  Much the same is going on in the world of contemporary entertainment where CGI giants and narrative midgets abound.  Tim Miller and David Fincher's Love Death + Robots is a perfect example.  While each of the eighteen episodes is brought to spectacular life with some truly astounding animation, the vast majority of the narratives are rather, well, juvenile.

Why "Ready Player One" Should Have Won Best Picture at the Academy Awards

If a bunch of celebrities throws themselves a self-congratulatory awards party and nobody watches, did it really happen?  Well, yes it did - reality isn't contingent on paying attention.  But when you are an entertainer, the only thing that really matters is people paying attention to your antics.  So, in the case of last night's desultory Academy Awards, I believe it might as well not have happened as last night's farce suffered the second-lowest viewership of all time (it was only eclipsed by 2017's comically bad lineup of talent and movies).

Now, why do I bring this up in a posting about Ready Player One?  Frankly, I consider this classic bit of Spielbergian escapism to be more deserving of a Best Picture award than any of last night's nominees.  Mind you, I am not saying this because I thought RPO was a great movie - it wasn't.  At best I would say it was a feel-good fluff movie of middling merit.  However, unlike last night's sorry lineup, it is a movie that will prove to have far more enduring popularity and value than anything on display last night.