THE OPTIMIST - MOVIE REVIEWS

Wow. 2020. We made it through this crazy year—take a moment to let that sink in.  Despite all of the craziness, this year has seen a flurry of new films grace the big, and small, screens. As a movie-lover, I’ve been torn. I’ve missed going to the theater immensely, and yet I’ve also enjoyed the plethora of new films that have populated our streaming services. Though I would have preferred to see them ALL on the big screen, having new stories to experience in any form has been a wonderful, shining light to a year that was filled with so much uncertainty. Did I get around to seeing EVERYTHING that came out? Not at all. A valiant effort was made, I assure you. However, looking at 2020’s total offerings, I feel I’ve only scratched the surface. With that said, creating a “BEST OF” list seemed like a futile attempt. I mean, I suppose I could , but then once I see all the ones I missed, that list could quickly become irrelevant.    So, as I reflected on the films I DID see this ...

Another round of movie reviews for you! Though quarantine is still in effect, we're still blessed with new movies to watch, and that's fantastic. This week I tackle a mixture of brand new movies and some earlier 2020 offerings. Enjoy! Mulan - Disney+ (with premiere access)   Disney’s latest live-action adaptation is now available on Disney+ for a premium. A lot of flak has been flung at Disney for this move, requiring subscribers who are already paying a monthly fee to pay an additional $30 to watch their sprawling new epic. This is especially interesting because in weird fashion Disney announced—mere days before Mulan ’s release—that the movie will be available on the service for free starting December 4. So, it begs the question then: why pay when I can wait to see it for free?   I could write a whole article on why I think it’s worth the price, but that’s not the reason for this post. I will say, though, that if you are a fan of the movies; if you appreciate the art form o...

As we continue to battle the craziness of 2020, there's still cinematic hope! New movies are still coming out and a lot of them are really great! If you haven't had a chance to see my first batch of quarantine flicks, you can check out my review of those here . In the meantime, here are a few more worthy candidates to consider! An American Pickle - HBO Max An American Pickle is probably one of my top favorite new films of 2020 so far. It’s got an absurd premise that purposefully plays into that absurdity, and manages to infuse heart, humor, and a wonderful escape from the drudgery of quarantine-living. The story is about a man named Herschel Greenbaum (played by Seth Rogen), an immigrant worker at a pickle factory who is accidentally brined and preserved in a vat of pickles for 100 years and wakes up in modern-day Brooklyn. Herschel manages to find his only living relative, a great-grandson named Ben Greenbaum (also played by Seth Rogen), and tries to find his place in this n...

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything remotely close to a movie review in the last five months or so. The state of the world is a crazy one, so I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. As a cinema-lover, not being able to go to the movies has been tough, and hearing about movies being pushed back is even tougher. Obviously, there are more important things going on in the world than movies, but movies and television have been a saving grace against cabin fever for many people during these quarantined times. Despite theaters being closed, a lot of new movies have still managed to come out thanks to the various streaming services that are available. I’ve done my best to keep up with these new nuggets of visual awesomeness and I just wanted to share some brief thoughts on some of them. I’m going to try and do my best to keep up with all the new stuff coming out. I will say, even though I didn’t watch these in a theater, it still felt really good to watch something new! Vivarium ...

It's one of my favorite times of the year, and I have to say that 2019 was a fantastic year for film! After much deliberation and many, many viewings, here are my predictions for this year's winners!  I predict great things for Joker and Parasite , but ultimately I think this is going to be 1917 's big night! Let's see how many I can get right! Last year I did pretty well, so we'll see if I can replicate it. Check back Monday for the results! *UPDATED: The winners are in! Winners are in  BLUE  and my incorrect guesses are in  RED . Got 22 out of 24 this year! BEST YEAR YET! BEST PICTURE FORD v FERRARI THE IRISHMAN JOJO RABBIT JOKER LITTLE WOMEN MARRIAGE STORY 1917 ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD PARASITE OPTIMIST'S PICK: 1917 BEST DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese, THE IRISHMAN Todd Phillips, JOKER Sam Mendes, 1917 Quentin Tarantino, ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD Bong Joon Ho, PARASITE OPTIMIST'S PICK: Bong Joon...