Speaks Picks: The 88th Academy Awards

It's that time, people. Oscar time!

Ever since I was a kid, this has been my Super Bowl, the televised event I wait for all year, every year.

Thursday Movie Picks: Valentine's Edition - Love Triangles

I got Oscars on the brain this week, so I decided to go with Best Picture-winning Love Triangles. I even had to stretch it for one (or two) of these, but that's okay. When I get what I think is a clever idea, I just have to run with it. I even picked all of these last year at some point, but I just don't care.

It's Thursday, Oscar Thursday, and I have a trio of films that feature the Love Triangle element the Wanderer of Wandering through the Shelves is looking for this week as part of the ongoing Thursday Movie Picks.

Blind Spot 2016: The Sting

There's something inherent in movies about con artists that just work on you, and, when the concept is done well, it is the most rewarding kind of movie experience.

The Sting is that kind of movie experience. It works on its audience very much like the story it tells. Let's just say I spent the better part of the movie at arms length, thinking I might be missing something, rewinding even at times, only to come to realize that nothing was really ever hinted at, or what it seemed, reaching places you knew it would go (because it told you it would) but never, for a second, letting on to how exactly it would get there.

In Movie Lines (with Rhyming Dialogue, Warm Apple Pie, and The Guy on the Couch)

Movie I've Watched

February 14th - February 20th, 2016

Thursday Movie Picks: Valentine's Edition - Declarations of Love

This one was harder than I thought, basically due to the fact that there are so many. I wanted to get outside the box on this one, but I just kept coming back to the most memorable moments, the ones that have stuck with me, outpourings of affection beautifully written, perfectly delivered, heart-melting, true. Moments so perfectly written, you wish you could've said the same thing. You know you've felt it.

This fine Thursday on Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks, the Valentine's themes continue. This time Declarations of Love. 

Speaks Reviews: Deadpool

Still Marvel

★★★ out of ★★★★

Congratulations are in order for Ryan Reynolds. He's finally found his place in the big money superhero franchise world. He deserves it. He worked hard for it. Deadpool is a perfect character for him. Think his wisecracking Monty character from Waiting..., train him in Special Forces, put him in a red suit brandished with various deadly weapons, and there you are.

Teasing the Teaser or (The Abrams Effect)

I didn't share it here, but I freaked the fuck out when that 10 Cloverfield Lane teaser dropped exactly one month ago today. I am still in total awe of it. And I never even saw the original Cloverfield. Not that that matters. It apparently is only a "blood relative," according to J.J. Abrams, a producer on the film. That said, I don't really care because, when you have a trailer that evokes season 2 of Lost, features Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher, Jr., and the one and only John Goodman, it only takes Tommy James and the Shondell's "I Think We're Alone Now" to truly ice the cake.

Thursday Movie Picks: Valentine's Edition - May/December Romances

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Speaks Reviews: Hail, Caesar!

"Would that it were so simple."

★★★ 1/2 out of ★★★★

Even though the Coen Brothers' long-awaited Hail, Caesar! makes a beautiful mess it can't quite clean up in the end, I have to praise it as one of the best full-on comedies of their career. The reason is simple: it is funny. And it's not hugely funny, there are no big gut-busters (well, maybe one, which involves Channing Tatum, a small dog, and a submarine). But it is consistent in its funniness. That is its crowning achievement.

Thursday Movie Picks: Valentine's Edition - Star-Crossed Lovers

"From forth the fatal loins of these two foes, 

A pair of starre-crost lovers take their life"

Whoa whoa whoa now, Shakespeare! I ain't trying to go that dark. Well, maybe a little bit. My picks this week aren't devoid of tragedy. But isn't there just something about a doomed love that makes it all the more heartfelt for the audience? I love a good romance, and more than anything I love a good one riddled with unclear destinies, for the truest, most-lasting, of loves are the ones we rush into without the clarity to know it probably won't work out. 

So, it's Thursday, and love is in the air. Wandering through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks is going Valentine's themed this February. First up, of course, Star-Crossed Lovers. 

In Movie Lines (with Movie Theaters, 2015 Movies, and More Spielberg): January 23 - January 30

Movies I've Watched

January 23rd - 30th, 2016