Shabbat Shalom and Post-Birthday Thoughts
What you see in the photo was the delicious brownies and ice cream that I had following a Char-burger and fries for my birthday dinner. It was a birthday...
Denver Was A Necessary Distraction
View from the Colorado State Capitol. I traveled to Denver this past week for reasons that will be written about soon on Dugout Dirt but it kept me from...
Am Yisrael Chai
I first learned of the horrific surprise attack on Israel while attending shul on Saturday morning. As I type, at least 700 Israelis are dead with the number...
Fall Chagim Are Over After This Weekend
(L-R): Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Ke Huy Quan as O.B., and Owen Wilson as Mobius in Marvel Studios' LOKI, Season 2, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gareth...
Do you want to have a Speaker?
The U.S. Capitol as seen in 2002. For the first time in over a century, Congress is voting on a motion to vacate the Speaker of the House. The magic number...
Hot Labor Summer Transitions To Cool Labor Fall
WGA Contract 2023. It took many more months than it realistically should but Hollywood is slowly getting itself back to work after the end of the WGA strike....
I Went Down The Geni Rabbit Hole
Joey and Randy Schoenberg in Venice in Fioretta. Courtesy of Rubber Ring Films. After watching Fioretta last night, I went down the Geni rabbit hole....
Chagim Equals Time For More Reading
L-r, APRIL O’NEIL, DONATELLO, RAPHAEL, MICHELANGELO and LEONARDO in PARAMOUNT PICTURES and NICKELODEON MOVIES Present A POINT GREY Production “TEENAGE MUTANT...
The New Year Begins
Gateway Arch National Park Rosh Hashanah began over the weekend and because of this, I’m going to be quite busy through early October. Subscribe now The...
America Remembers 9/11
The South Tower at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the tragic and devastating attacks on September 11th. Apologies...
Happy Labor Day
Tim Kazurinsky and Bobcat GoldthwaiteWGA Strike and Rally - May 17, 2023 outside of NBC Tower in Chicago. Labor Day weekend 2023 feels particularly different...
I'm Still Noticing Things In Jurassic Park
The T-Rex in the final minutes of Jurassic Park. Courtesy of Universal. I spent my Sunday night watching Jurassic Park in honor of this past June’s 30th...
Apologies for the Delay
Steve Binder and Elvis Presley on the set of Elvis: The ’68 Comeback Special. Courtesy of Paramount+. Apologies for the delay in sending this out over the...
A Busy Weekend...
This weekend was hectic as I was busy attending a sports convention, which I wrote about over at Dugout Dirt. I started up the outlet as a way of writing...
The Christopher Nolan Marathon Finally Happened
I was planning on a Christopher Nolan film marathon with the release of Tenet in 2020 but it ended up happening with Oppenheimer opening in 2023. Due to...
Binge-Watching Young Indiana Jones
I’m years late to watching The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones but the wait has been worth it. Subscribe now I don’t know if the series has been on a...
Happy Independence Day!
Nothing says celebrating the 4th of July better than by watching Indiana Jones punch Nazis in the face. Subscribe now My initial plans were to watch the...
Revisiting Titanic After 5 Years and Change
The unfortunate implosion of the Titan is what led me to rewatch Titanic for the first time since its 20th anniversary in 2017. Subscribe now I didn’t just...
Wrapping Up Tribeca And More
I have a few films left to watch throughout the next week but I’ve wrapped up my on-ground coverage as of this afternoon. Subscribe now There’s been a lot of...
Back from Tribeca
The fun part about attending film festivals is always finding the time to write, let alone eat or sleep. I finally flew back from NYC last night after...
Going Across the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opens this weekend and let me tell you, this one is even better than the 2018 Oscar winner. Subscribe now I’m knee-deep...
Picketing in Solidarity with WGA Chicago
Zayn Dohrn speaks during the WGA Chicago strike press conference This past week, I joined the picket lines to show my support for the WGA during the WGA...
Movies and More
We’re entering the third week of the WGA strike even as the AMPTP could have ended it at any point during the past two weeks. Instead, the strike continues...
The Joys of Technology
I should not have to invest in ANOTHER electronic device in order to do my job as a film critic but my laptop is no longer playing Indee screeners without...
I Stand With The WGA
There is not a single excuse for C-Suite executives to rake in millions upon millions and then not offer a fair contract to the writers that helped put them...
It's Been A Hectic Week
I meant to send out an update towards the end of last week but then I got slammed with junket interviews and it just didn’t happen. Subscribe now Being busy...
Back to New York
After not hearing back until a few weeks prior to the festival’s start in 2022, it’s nice to know I can start planning for the 2023 Tribeca Festival in June....
Chag Sameach
I’ll be going offline for Pesach at some point on Wednesday so I thought I’d send this out really quick. Subscribe now There was a time when I really enjoyed...
Praying for Israel
As I write this, there have been massive protests in Israel to prevent Bibi from reforming the Israeli judiciary. Subscribe now A number of Jewish...
I'm Not A Proud Kentuckian Today
While press screenings and junkets have kept me busy, it’s been a very depressing week otherwise. I was going to try and send something out going into the...
I'm Jewish, Trans, and Terrified
I’m Jewish, trans, and downright terrified at the current state of affairs. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Movies that should be entertaining for work...
Catching Up on the Classics
With what feels like fewer theatrical releases coming out, I’ve been using the time to fill in my classic film blind spots. Some of the films were previously...
Escaping Through Movies and TV
Time got away from me last week as I decided to escape the news by watching movies and TV. Subscribe now Transphobic attacks are increasing all across the...
Can It Just Be A Regular Sunday?
There will be no celebration of the Super Bowl over here. I might have snacks on hand but that’s only because I want to have food to munch on during the...
It's A Good Year For Documentaries
Bill Russell: Legend is the latest in a string of celebrity-focused documentaries to premiere this year. It’s also one of my favorite documentaries of the...
AMC Theatres Is Shooting Itself In The Foot
AMC Theatres is shooting itself in the foot with the fakakta idea of dynamic pricing for seats. I’ll have a formal newsletter update coming soon but I’m not...
Back from Sundance and I'm Exhausted
It’s been a few weeks of traveling to Los Angeles for the Critics Choice Awards and Park City for Sundance Film Festival. I’m finally back in Chicago after a...
Back in Los Angeles
I’m back in Los Angeles for the Critics Choice Awards and it just so happened that I found myself eating at The Milky Way, a restaurant once owned by Steven...
Happy New Year
January 6 is a somber anniversary but I started off the year with some solid productivity after ending last year with the slowest week of the year. I’m the...
It's The Slowest Time Of The Year
Whether it’s the recent brutal cold or holiday shutdown, the last two weeks of the year drag by very slowly. I’ve been keeping busy as much as one can, what...
Happy Chanukah!
It’s currently the first day of Chanukah as the Festival of Lights started at sundown on Sunday evening with the start of 25 Kislev. Aside from Shabbos, my...
Apologies For My Absence
I made a quick trip to New York last week for the NY premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and then it was back to Chicago to cram before voting. The...
How Is It Already December?
The year is going by so fast because it’s already December and awards season is just beginning to kick into full gear. With Shabbos starting so early on...
Goodbye Twitter
I’m gonna make this quick as I made the decision to delete Twitter from my life now that Elon Musk is bringing Donald Trump back. Solzy at the Movies has an...
A Fun Time in LA and More
My apologies for not getting a newsletter sent out last week but I was slammed with press and FYC screenings. This week, I was lucky enough to attend the...
Many Viewing Options for November 4
Good Night Oppy headlines the theatrical releases this weekend while a number of films are now available to watch on streaming. While Good Night Oppy hits...
Movie Catchup, Antisemitism, and Twitter
Ticket to Paradise was the distraction that I needed on Sunday afternoon but Armageddon Time hit rather close to home with it’s discussion on antisemitism....
Post and Run But This Needed To Be Said
What a week. I had local film fest obligations including the Devotion red carpet (interviews forthcoming with JD Dillard and Jonathan Majors) and a festival...
The Marathon Is Over
The Jewish holiday marathon finally came to an end on Tuesday evening so my life has returned to regularly scheduled programming. It’s weird to know that...
Comedies Are Struggling At The Theaters
Original comedy movies are struggling to make money at the box office in 2022—Bros is just the latest to flop upon its theatrical release with an estimated...