A Brief Note: Whenever I review a series, I try to be as objective in my review as possible. However, it’s rare that I review a series that has such close ties to my own family history. My grandfather, Robert Ryan, was a B-17 bombardier, stationed in England, with the US Army Air Corps in […]
Tag: Steven Spielberg
Indiana Jones Retrospective: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
After a 19-year break, Indiana Jones returned with Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It’s a film where the fan reaction can charitably be called mixed. In 1957 Indiana Jones has been abducted by Soviet agents and forced to infiltrate a secret American government base in Nevada. This leads to Indy getting accused of […]
Indiana Jones Retrospective: The Last Crusade
Released five years after Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade aimed to recapture the magic of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones is approached by a mysterious figure, Walter Donovan (Julian Glover), an American businessman who asks him to find another lost artifact. This time Indy is asked to find the Holy Grail. Indy […]
Indiana Jones Retrospective: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Ark was the film that started a beloved franchise and arguably one of Steven Spielberg’s famous films. It’s up there with Jaws, E.T., and Jurassic Park. With a fifth and final Indiana Jones film coming out, it seems like a good time to revisit the series. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is a brilliant archaeologist and adventurer. The American government approaches him […]
The Fabelmans Review
Steven Spielberg makes his most personal with a semi-autographical film The Fabelmans. Samuel “Sammy” Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle/Mateo Zoryan Francis-DeFord) is the oldest son and only boy in his family unit. His father, Burt (Paul Dano) is an in-demand computer engineer and his mother, Mitzi (Michelle Williams) is a skilled pianist. Sammy becomes interested in filmmaking and […]
West Side Story (2021) Review
The 1961 film version of West Side Story has been viewed for decades as an untouchable classic. Meticulously presenting the music and choreography made famous by the groundbreaking Broadway show, the Best Picture winner effectively captures a specific moment of cultural change happening in New York City’s West Side at the end of the Eisenhower […]
Ready Player One Review
Nostalgia, Video Games, and Geek Culture have dominated the zeitgeist for over a decade. Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One smashed these ideas together and after it was a publishing success, led to it being adapted as a big-budget film by Steven Spielberg. In 2045 a lot of people escape their troubles by going into […]