Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It’s when we remember the 1929 Chicago slaying of seven gangsters orchestrated by Al Capone. Just kidding. Of course, I am referring to the annual celebration of love and its accompanying obligation to ply one’s beloved with flowers, fancy chocolates, battery-operated sex toys, what have you. Hey, I […]
Phil Bacharach
Posted inArts & Culture
2024 in film
In the wake of a pandemic, an uncertain future for multiplexes, and strikes in 2023 by the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild, Hollywood prognosticators and self-appointed observers presumed 2024 would be dismal for film. Thankfully, such pronouncements proved unfounded. While box office receipts saw a slight dip from the previous year, there […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Not Christmas
’Tis the season for Christmas flicks, but c’mon: How many more times can you watch Jimmy Stewart’s life get destroyed by that horrible Uncle Billy or see whether Ralphie gets that Red Ryder BB gun? Terrific films, certainly, but enough already. Even a more contemporary classic like Elf has become ho ho ho hum. What […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Dystopian movies
By the time you read this, two things are likely: (1) The United States will have elected a new president (hopefully) and (2) roughly half the electorate believes the result will spell the end of America as we know it. Few elections in recent memory have invited as much rampant fear of a dystopian future […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Horror movies
For cinephiles, especially those with a masochistic desire to be scared, October is about more than fall foliage, college football and pumpkin-spiced fill-in-the-blank. The leadup to Halloween is a great excuse to immerse yourself in horror films. But why settle for the same ol’, same ol’? Chances are you know the go-to fright franchises: Scream, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Welcoming reality
Given the unreal state of reality in 2018, perhaps it’s unsurprising that movies largely gave up on escapism. In this up-is-down environment, documentaries thrived, with a handful — Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, about Mr. Rogers; the too-bizarre-to-believe, Three Identical Strangers; and Free Solo, which chronicles the only person to free solo climb Yosemite’s El […]
Posted inArts & Culture
deadCenter: Close-ups
The Jurassic Games Take the dystopian, gladiatorial reality-show aspect of The Hunger Games series and drop in some of Jurassic Park’s classic scaly predators and you have the basic premise for The Jurassic Games, the latest popcorn-shoveling sci-fi action flick from director Ryan Bellgardt. The man behind past fan favorites Gremlin and Army of Frankensteins […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Oklahoma Gazette breaks down the best in film in 2017
The past 12 months have been a memorable time for local and national film.
Posted inArts & Culture
There’s something weird afoot when the year’s gutsiest political statement evidently comes from The Interview.
There’s something weird afoot when the year’s gutsiest political statement evidently comes from The Interview.
Posted inArts & Culture
It’s impossible to overstate Alan Turing’s role in shaping the world we know today.
It’s impossible to overstate Alan Turing’s role in shaping the world we know today.