L.R. Albright

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Oscar Predictions

Best Picture Three Billboards… The Shape of Water Phantom Thread Lady Bird Dunkirk Get Out Call Me By Your Name Darkest Hour The Post This is going to be an interesting race though I think Three Billboards… is the likeliest to come out of this one with the big award, with The Shape of Water putting up a good fight. The Shape of Water ended up taking the PGA (a telling precursor) and the BFCA for…

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Call Me By Your Name: A Review

I’m a bit late to the Call Me By Your Name craze that’s been sweeping the film festival circuit since last January, but nevertheless, I’m here.  I read the book last month and I finished it in two days. After I turned the final page, I knew then, why so many were going absolutely insane over this. Though I also knew, especially in this current climate, that there would be a certain amount of push…

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I, Tonya: A Review

If someone had told me a couple of years ago that a movie about Tonya Harding, of all people, would end up being one of my most anticipated films of the year, I would’ve laughed right in their face. However, when the redband trailer came out, I was surprised by how funny it looked. I also wondered how on earth the filmmakers could pull this off and not come across as tone-deaf. This story…

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Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Three Billboards… centers around Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) whose daughter was raped and murdered seven months prior to when the film takes place. No one has been caught, there are no suspects, and Mildred believes it’s due to police incompetence. So, she decides to rent three billboards outside of town that has only a simple explosive question: Raped while dying And still no arrests How…

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mother! : A Review

mother! : A Review

There has been a lot of interest in Darren Aronofsky secretive mother! since it, and the cast, were announced. The project was shrouded in secrecy until the movie premiered at the Venice International Film Festival to wildly divisive audience and critical reactions. When it premiered in the United States, there was a similar reaction; some critics praised it to the high-heavens while others…

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Final Oscar Predictions

BEST PICTURE La La Land Moonlight Manchester By The Sea Hidden Figures Hacksaw Ridge Arrival Lion Fences Hell or High Water   I think La La Land is going to win this by a considerable margin. The buzz is too great for any of the other movies to put up a fight here. It’s practically a done deal.  BEST DIRECTOR Damien Chazelle – La La Land Barry Jenkins  – Moonlight Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester By…

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Manchester By The Sea: A Review

Manchester By The Sea: A Review

Manchester By The Sea tells the story of Lee Chandler, an ordinary man who goes to work as a custodian and comes home from work. His pattern only deviates by a visit to a bar to down a few beers. He’s a man who’s drowning in grief and guilt that is only exacerbated by a call that his brother is in the hospital, only to get there and find out that he’s passed away. Lee takes care of funeral…

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Jackie: A Review

Jackie Kennedy is possibly the most famous first lady to have entered the public consciousness in recent history. Even her name conjures up the image of her pink suit and matching pill box hat. The media’s representation of her is fixated on the upper crust side of her; the fashionable woman with the affected accent. Jackie, however, offers a rare glimpse at the woman underneath the myth. Jackie…

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Nocturnal Animals: A Review

Nocturnal Animals: A Review

Nocturnal Animals has had an interesting reaction since it premiered at Telluride this past fall. I seem to remember there was a mixed to positive reaction, but those who liked it, really liked it and with a cast that includes Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, and Laura Linney, I thought to myself, how could this go wrong? Yeah. Apparently it could, and it did. The movie begins, and…

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Moonlight: A Review

When I first saw the trailer for Moonlight, I knew this wasn’t going to be the easiest movie to sell to an audience. I also knew it was going to be something special and it would mine something real and true, and though it would be familiar, it would be told in a way that’s all together different than we’ve seen before. Moonlight is told in three parts from the point of view from three different…

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Oscar Predictions

BEST PICTURE La La Land Silence Manchester By The Sea Jackie Moonlight 20th Century Women Arrival Fences Loving Lion It’s almost too early, and there are still a few movies that have to be screened, but so far, La La Land has built so much momentum on the film festival circuit that it seems it’s the front runner for the big prize. Silence, Manchester, and Jackie aren’t too far behind it though. …

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Elle: A Review

Elle has been making the rounds at film festivals since Cannes this past year, with much acclaim and, in typical Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Showgirls) fashion, some controversy surrounding its content. It tells the story of Michele Leblanc (Isabelle Huppert), a successful business woman, who is raped by an unknown ski-masked assailant. Unfortunately, in today’s world,  this isn’t something…

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Kate Plays Christine: A Review

Kate Plays Christine: A Review

It was a strange coincidence this past Sundance when two movies about the same subject – Christine Chubbuck – played in competition. Christine, the other movie, is a conventional biopic, one that I found to be the best movie I’ve seen so far this year. This take on Christine Chubbuck is actually a documentary approach. Kind of. Kate Plays Christine centers around Kate Lynn Sheil preparing for the…

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Christine: A Review

Most people who have ever heard of Christine Chubbuck already know how her story ends; Often she’s been attributed to glimpsing into the future of television journalism, her story turning into a kind of morbid urban legend in the over forty years since the incident appeared on screen. I admit, when I first heard the story almost ten years ago, it didn’t even come across as something that actually…

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Inside Out: A Review

Inside Out: A Review

Inside Out centers around Riley and her emotions, “Joy”, “Disgust”, “Fear”, “Anger”, and “Sadness” and how she reacts during a big move to San Francisco. A depression begins to set in, and soon after, “Joy” and “Sadness” are spirited away to further parts of Riley’s mind, leaving  Fear, Disgust, and Anger to their own devices as Joy and Sadness traverse through the far reaches of Riley’s mind to…

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Academy Awards Predictions

Best Picture The Big Short Spotlight The Revenant Mad Max: Fury Road Room Bridge Of Spies The Martian Brooklyn I really think The Big Short has this one, with it’s recent PGA win, it’s almost a sure thing. Though Spotlight and The Revenant seem to be very, very close.  Best Director  George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road Alejandro González  Iñárritu, The Revenant Adam McKay, The Big Short Tom…

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Editing

Editing is one of those writer’s necessities, in fact, it’s probably what a writer will spend most of his or her time on. It’s also probably one of the most disheartening processes of writing itself. I know it is for me. I’ll come upon a particular event in the piece that I loved writing, absolutely loved, and I loved what I had written. Yet, I’ll come back around to it later on in the editing…

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