White Noise: Back to NYC
The North American premiere of White Noise saw me make my return to NYC for the first time since December 2021. Where the two trips in 2021 saw me staying...
Recovering from TIFF
Finding the time to write during a film festival is always tough but I somehow found time to churn out a few reviews. I still have a few reviews left to...
The Dog Days of Summer
I didn’t mean to leave Substack subscribers hanging but the back half of August has been incredibly chaotic. TIFF finally released the full schedule on...
Weekend Openers - August 12
Emily the Criminal highlights the weekend openers as we reach the mid-point of August. How is it already August?!? Anyway, August is the new January in that...
Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time
I was recently asked to contribute to Sight and Sound’s Greatest Films of All Time poll. It’s not easy putting together my selections—the list of my favorite...
Back to TIFF in September
The end of July saw the Toronto International Film Festival beginning to announce their lineup for the 47th installment. They started with the Gala and...
No, Elvis isn't dead. He just went home.
I saw Elvis near the end of June and subsequently decided to check out the 1968 Comeback Special and Elvis: One Night With You from the library. It took me...
Star Wars: Filling in the Gaps
While I’ve been working on reading Hollywood and Israel in recent weeks, I’ve also been catching up on Star Wars comics. You have Obi-Wan Kenobi to thank for...
A Busy Weekend at Fan Expo Chicago
Fan Expo Chicago took place over the long weekend and it certainly kept me busy. This was the first edition of Fan Expo Chicago after they acquired the...
Independence Day 2022 - I'm Currently Safe
Today marks America’s birthday. Unfortunately, it’s also been marked by tragedy this year with the Fourth of July Parade in Highland Park, Ill. I’m making...
Surely, you can't be serious
The rulings from the Supreme Court during the last week have made it tough to watch any movie with a clear mindset. It’s this mindset that led me to pull out...
A Whole Lot Of Star Wars Going On
Obi-Wan Kenobi came to an end on Wednesday and with that, so did my staying up for episodes to launch at 2 AM. There are very few shows launching on...
It's a Raiders kind of night
Tribeca 2022 may be coming to an end on the ground in New York but I spent my Sunday evening watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Steven Spielberg film...
Back to the Future
I took a break over Memorial Day weekend to go Back to the Future and the trilogy is still as fun as ever. Going into the holiday weekend, I had debated...
Top Gun: Maverick - The Hype is Real
The hype started for Top Gun: Maverick immediately after the world premiere screening during CinemaCon. My full review will not run until May 25 but let me...
The Summer Movie Season is Here
It isn’t just that the summer movie season is here but I am entering another week of May where the large majority of my reviews are already scheduled for the...
To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before
I ended the month of April by binge-watching four seasons of Star Trek: Discovery with the first half of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds mixed into the bunch....
The Jojo Rabbit Discourse is Back
While many of us were furious with a list of the best romantic comedies of all-time making the rounds on Monday, the Jojo Rabbit discourse came back. As I...
Passover Is Coming
Passover is starting on Friday night and for some, that means revisiting films such as The Ten Commandments or The Prince of Egypt. Or if you’re up to it,...
Sony Tour, Critics Choice Awards and More
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind with a trip to Los Angeles for the Critics Choice Awards and the Sony Pictures Studio Tour. In a perfect world, I’d...
Disney Needs To Do Better
Bob Chapek has damaged the Walt Disney brand in more ways than anybody could have thought possible. One has to be really bad at their job to do a worse job...
Apologies for the lack of updates
I’ll send out a formal update later today but first, I’m sorry for not updating this Substack as frequently as I’d liked. Being transgender means I am...
Bambi: The Movie and The Book
Walt Disney’s Bambi is NOTHING at all like Felix Salten’s book. Now that Bambi is back in the public domain, Princeton University Press is releasing The...
Ivan Reitman, The Super Bowl, and More
The year continues to take away from us with the passing of Ivan Reitman over the weekend. It wasn’t until after his passing in which I learned that his...
Spotify Still Falls Short With Regards to Joe Rogan
When Spotify CEO Daniel Ek sent out an email to staff to apologize for what’s going on with Joe Rogan, he fell short of doing what was right. The right thing...
That Was A Month
I realize it’s been a few weeks since my last update. However, Sundance kept me busy with a number of films and I’ve been rather busy on the Whoopi Goldberg...
Disaster Thrillers and Sundance
I apologize for the delay in getting this sent out. When I returned online following Shabbas on January 15, I could not stay away from the news. Another...
Ben Affleck Isn't Wrong
Ben Affleck had something to say about the future of moviegoing and the truth is: he isn’t wrong. I wrote about Affleck’s comments this evening. The way I...
Remembering A Screen Legend And The Week That Was
Sidney Poitier is the latest screen legend to pass away with the news being announced on Friday morning. He was 94 years old. During my first go-around in...
A Legend Passes Away And Other Thoughts
While 2021 came to an end on Friday night, it came with the news that Betty White died at the age of 99. But if you’re interested in knowing, she did reach...
A Quick Recap of the Week
You may ask how did this tradition get started? I’ll tell you…I don’t know. I’m spending my December 24th watching my annual viewing of Fiddler on the Roof....
Omicron Variant Disrupting Awards Season
The 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards are still set to take place at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel on January 9, 2022. The CCAs might be the last event...
The Lost Daughter and Don't Look Up
Apologies for not getting this dispatch out sooner. My sinuses started acting up after coming back to Chicago so I spent the bulk of last week sleeping in...
I'm Going Back to Sundance in 2022!
Let’s dispense with the good news first: After over two months of waiting, I finally received word that I will be returning to Park City for the 2022...
I'm Lost in New York
Apologies for not getting out a dispatch this week as awards season has been keeping me super busy. I’m living it up in the Big Apple for a number of studio...
Happy Thanksgiving
Because of the holiday week, I’m keeping things light this week as I know how hectic things can be because of cooking and family. For the first time in two...
Please Stop Asking Filmmakers About Superhero Movies
I’m not about to tell someone how to do their job but I think it’s beyond time that journalists stop asking filmmakers about superhero movies. It’s one thing...
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a must-see for cinephiles but make no mistake that they could do a better job of honoring those who built Hollywood...
The Belfast Premiere in Los Angeles
I’m back in Chicago after flying back from Los Angeles following the LA premiere of Belfast and exclusive Critics Choice Association press conference. Words...
Los Angeles is a Blast
Let there be no mistake that The Power of the Dog is an awards contender and Netflix sure knows it. This weekend marked the first time that I have seen my...
Chanukah Movies Are Lacking in 2021
Maybe it’s because of the shanda that is Love, Lights, Hanukkah airing last December but there are no Chanukah films on this year’s schedule. Most of the...
Nothing Wrong With Period Films
Matthew Yglesias came out with one of the worst takes I’ve seen on social media in recent weeks by essentially bashing period—and in one instance,...
The Future of Cinema
I wrote on Solzy at the Movies this morning about the recent William Friedkin interview with NBC News. The Oscar-winning filmmaker has been making the rounds...
My Review Philosophy
There’s a lot of work that goes into writing several film reviews a week but there are things that I try my best not to do. First and foremost is that I will...
The French Dispatch Sets Pandemic Box Office Record
While most eyes were on Dune this weekend, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch was making some noise at the box office. The film, from Searchlight Pictures,...
Film Festival Musings
Last week’s depression unfortunately had an impact on my Chicago International Film Festival coverage. I was able to watch The French Dispatch, The Last...
Academy Museum Erases Founding Jewish Studio Moguls
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures has no been open to the public for long but it is already drawing a backlash by erasing the founding Jewish studio...
SATM comes to Substack
I’m gonna keep this brief. I’m not really going to post much free content here since that’s what Solzy at the Movies is for. However, I will be offering paid...
Coming soon
This is Solzy at the Movies On Substack , a newsletter about Columns and such that will not be found on SATM.. Subscribe now