movies

‘Give Your Heart to Everyone You Meet’

January is almost done and honestly, it’s been such a crazy month. As I try to get back into blogging more regularly, I am so humbled by my first year at Collider. I’ve been so grateful to cover some super fun events and while we are planning for the next ones, a big favorite from last year just so happened to be my “premiere” at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. 

For years, all I ever heard when requesting to cover this at work was “no,” “not really” and “nah.” But finally, last September, I got a chance to be a part of it — and most importantly, with a team that equally appreciates film as much as I do. I’ve been watching the festival and its highlights on the local news since I was a little girl and always said to myself that I’d cover it one day. I never knew how or when, but I knew it would happen. When I started writing professionally in 2008, I thought now was the time. It wasn’t — and it wasn’t for at least 15 years. Fast forward to today and I’m really glad that day finally came and with my Collider team of all teams, who were so supportive and helpful in this whole process. I’m so grateful. 

While meeting my work family was an incredible highlight, one of my all-time favorite moments was meeting Ethan Hawke, who came into our Collider studio with his daughter, Maya Hawke for their film Wildcat. He was very sweet and kind, and just so warm. We spoke for a few minutes — a conversation I’ll keep close to me. He also signed my copy of “Ash Wednesday,” which meant a lot and just had me over the moon all month. Big thanks to my coworker for giving me the courage too. I am usually so cool around people when I’m doing interviews, but I was absolutely starstruck, haha! Not since meeting Brad Pitt and the Coen Brothers did I feel this way — but that’s a story for another day (blog post). 

I can’t wait for the next event! You will have to stay tuned for what comes next. But in the meantime, check out some more photos from my TIFF 23 experience, and read my reviews or tap to check out all our coverage, helped ideated by yours truly!

‘A Ghost Never Leaves a Haunted House’

I didn’t get a chance to share this as I’ve gotten a little busy with the holidays shortening work schedules and interviews just lining up but I got to watch Ghostbusters: Afterlife last month and have to say, it was 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐙𝐈𝐍𝐆! Oh gosh, I just loved it so very much! The moment those piano keys played at the start, I don’t know what came over me but I started to tear up. This movie has been one of those films that has always been there for me in low times and happy times, and it just felt like coming home in a sense. I got to watch it with my dad and big sister whose arm I squeezed periodically.

Honestly, after waiting almost two years for this movie, I can proudly say it left me in awe, made me laugh and cry — and even just thinking about it again, I’m tearing up. It really is the Ghostbusters movie I’ve been waiting for since I was a kid and that is no disrespect to Paul Feig’s version because I love him. He is the absolute kindest, most thoughtful and cognizant filmmaker today and that cast was legit hilarious! But this one brings back the humor and spookiness the original movies were known for — were 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 for, and it had so much more heart than I could have imagined. I didn’t expect to respond that way but am glad I did. So eloquent and smartly written, Jason Reitman constructed this magical experience that really plays as a love letter to fans. I’m excited to see it again!

That said, I also have to say that the critics are wrong about this one. Giving it a freshness score of just a mere 63% is ridiculous. From the writing to the casting, and even the setting playing to the isolation Spengler felt in his last days — there was so much to love. Plus, McKenna Grace is going to be a force! I just love that kid. Have you seen her other work? She is such a talent. But the movie also wasn’t just a nostalgia-packed film for fans with Easter eggs and throwback nuggets. It served as a beautiful tribute to both Egon Spengler, everyone’s favorite spores, molds and fungus collector and of course, the incomparable Harold Ramis, who really helped make this world with Dan Aykroyd. Ramis, who passed away in 2014, also leaves us in the first few minutes of the film and it was heartbreaking. But the way they brought him back is such a delight and for McKenna to carry the torch with the young cast as the next generation, I am ready for s’more — and that concludes my (mini puft) review. What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments below.

Here’s to the Ones Who Dream: Essential Life Lessons From ‘La La Land’

Bursting onto the big-screen with a high note of retro glamour, glitz and style, La La Land is one of the most daring original movie musicals in a long time. In addition to vibrantly illustrating stylized trimmings of Hollywood musicals from the ‘40s and ‘50s blended with an ardent Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers flair, it’s no wonder this breathtaking, heartfelt homage to silver screen classics is one of the best films of 2016.

Winner of seven Golden Globes, recipient of 11 BAFTA nominations and soon to be the expected winner at the 89th Annual Academy Awards for Best Picture, La La Land is not just any musical though with beautiful costumes and twirling. It’s a luscious and vivacious look into the world of dreamers who power through reality to accept change.

Following the lives of two dreamers, La La Land is quick to highlight its character-based plot with two artists and their respective dreams. Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a jazz pianist hoping to open his own jazz club, while Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress attending audition after audition. Drawn together by their common desire to do what they love, the two begin a love affair complete with song and dance that’s reminiscent of Astaire and Rogers dancing “Cheek to Cheek.” But as they each find success, their decisions begin to fray at the fragile fabric of their relationship and threaten to rip them apart.

In his multicolored and impassioned third feature, director, Damien Chazelle portrays love at its finest. But the 31-year-old filmmaker also asks young, driven millennials who dream beyond the norm, is it possible to have it all?

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10 of the Most Anticipated Movies of 2017

Though 2016 delivered an incredible roster of film with a few hits and misses, we like to think with the releases coming out this year, that was just the industry taking a casual stretch before the biggest marathon of movies hits 2017. While there is still plenty of new year to go and we’re really just get started, it’s never too early to get excited about all the upcoming releases.

There’s no denying with the trailers released today, we are definitely looking forward to moving on and diving into a brand new year of filmography bound to break box office records. This year promises fun and thrill from a big ape, mummies, superheroes, vigilantes, and of course the one and only, Wonder Woman.

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How in love could you have been?

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With the start of a new school year and work really heating up, this past month has been a particularly hard one for me. These last 26 days have been quite a trial, but the older we get, the saner and more sober we become I suppose. Everything is best seen as a learning experience, right?

Now I don’t get much downtime between hitting the books, running around for work and writing for The Hudsucker and Womanista, but when I do, I’m one of those found lounging out on the couch with my Colts blanket. This past week I had a chance to catch up on some TV shows and movies, including This Is Where I Leave You. It was good and I really liked it. However, a particular dialogue between the main character, Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) conversing with his sister, Wendy (Tina Fey) made me think of the relationships we build with the people we “love.”

Judd: Three months ago, I had a great job and a nice apartment and I was in love with my wife.
Wendy: No, you weren’t.
Judd: No?
Wendy: No. She was sleeping with somebody else for a year and you never noticed. How in love could you have been?

And that’s when it hit me. Everything that had ever happened to me in the last six months became even more apparent and made me realize how much greater of a position my heart is in now than it had been before. (more…)

Movie Review: A Defining and Bold “Testament of Youth”

One of the beauties of cinema is how it can so beautifully encapsulate and highlight what has affected us most. In paying respects to war, Hollywood films have helped throughout the years to acknowledge the sacrifice so many before us have made for our freedoms. The twentieth century’s pervading legacy has been about war, with two of the largest wars in the history of our world happening in the first half of the century.

Testament of Youth is based on the popular memoir of English writer, feminist, and pacifist, Vera Brittain’s experiences during the First World War. The film is a powerful and moving impassioned story of love, war, and remembrance from the point of view of a woman trying to find her place in the world. From a wide-eyed young woman with youthful hopes and dreams, to the edge of despair and back again, the British film perfectly captures the ineffectiveness of war, young love, and how to find light in dark times.

The film follows young Vera Brittain (Alicia Vikander) on the cusp of adulthood and a modern new era. Despite the wishes of her conservative parents (Dominic West, Emily Watson) to get married, young and self-taught Vera is determined to attend Oxford University and become a writer. Vera finds support from her younger brother, Edward (Taron Egerton) and his prep-school friend, Victor (Colin Morgan). But when she meets her brother’s other friend, the dashing and robust Roland (Kit Harington), her view on what she thought she believed significantly alters.

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Rediscovering Classic Films Through Books

The trend of adapting novels to film is not at all a recent one. For years and long before the popular Harry Potter series or The Hunger Games, Hollywood has been taking note of some of our most profound novels and turning to these illustrious literary works for inspiration on the big screen.

For movie buffs, the “classics” are films that are watched over and over, with each viewing broadening appreciation and revealing a new meaning to viewers as the times progress. Publishing giant, Random House has taken notice of that adoration and is treating classic movie fans care of their Vintage Books imprint by creating a series of novels under the “Vintage Movie Classics” banner and putting a spotlight on some of the greatest novels that have stood the test of time.

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A Beautiful Decay: “Gone Girl” Soundtrack Haunts

The highly anticipated film adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel Gone Girl hit theaters this past weekend, ranking in a whopping $38 million. The film, which chronicles a toxic and thoroughly creepy marriage might have unnerved audiences with its mysteriously dark and distorted subject matter, but the goosebump-inducing score accenting every twist and turn was just as unsettling but equally haunting.

Composed by Academy Award-winning musicians Trent Reznor of industrial rock band, Nine Inch Nails and Atticus Ross, Gone Girl marks the duo’s third soundtrack collaboration with filmmaker and auteur, David Fincher.

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