22 April
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In Special Series

PAUL’S TOP 5 MARVEL FILMS We are but days away from Avengers: Endgame. It’s the end of the road, so it seems, for many of our favorite Avengers characters as Marvel wraps up The Infinity Saga. The film is already shattering pre-sale records and may just be the highest grossing film of the year. I say that knowing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker comes in December. The Marvel films strike us all in different ways depending on the characters, worlds, and creatures we dig the most over these 21 movies. Here is a countdown of my Top 5 Marvel films with my original reviewsRead More →

19 April
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TEEN SPIRIT Writer/Director: Max MinghellaStarring: Ellie Fanning, Zlatko Buric, Rebecca Hall Violet (Fanning) is a shy and introverted teenager born of Polish heritage but lives in the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. She loves to sing even if it means doing it in dingy bars behind her disapproving mother’s back. Word spreads through school that auditions will be held in their city for “Teen Spirit” a televised singing competition series looking for the next big pop star. All of the kids audition, but Violet is the one who is picked to go onto the next round. She has the voice, but lacks stageRead More →

19 April
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UNICORN STORE Director: Brie LarsonStarring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Mamoudou Athie, Joan Cusack, Bradley Whitford Kit (Larson) is in the transition period of her life where she’s having a hard time growing up. She’s a painter who expresses her opinions in a variety of creative ways but she’s going nowhere with it and failing out of school. She spends far too much time sulking around her parents’ house. They’re losing faith in her ability to grow up, but she wants to prove them wrong by getting a temp job in a corporate setting. As you can imagine, Kit doesn’t feel like she really fitsRead More →

12 April
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THE RISE OF SKYWALKER – WHAT WE KNOW Today was a big day for Star Wars fans. The Star Wars Celebration is in full swing in Chicago as Lucasfilm is unveiling nuggets of information about a variety of projects. The biggest one is the title and trailer for Episode IX. The panel kicked off with director J.J. Abrams, Lucasfilm head honcho Kathleen Kennedy, and host Stephen Colbert. You can tell Colbert’s a geek like the rest of us with how he approached the cast looking for little secrets. Here are five takeaways from the panel which consisted of those three along with: Anthony Daniels (C-3PO),Read More →

12 April
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In Movie Trailers

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Director: J.J. AbramsStarring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Lupita Nyong’o, Keri Russell, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Billie Lourd, Billy Dee Williams If you’re a Star Wars fan, that probably means you’ve been paying a close eye on the Star Wars Celebration currently happening in Chicago. It’s here where Kathleen Kennedy and Lucas Film are unveiling new insights into the variety of Star Wars projects in development. One of which, is the long anticipated, Episode IX. We now have a title “The Rise of Skywalker” and teaser trailer for the new filmRead More →

11 April
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In Movie Reviews

LITTLE Director: Tina GordonStarring: Regina Hall, Marsai Martin, Issa Rae, Mikey Day, Justin Hartley As a kid, Jordan Sanders (Martin) was the girl in class who was wicked smart, but bullied and teased due to her love of learning. She told herself that one day she would grow up and be the boss so she could bully others around. That very thing happened, and now as an adult (Hall), she runs her own tech company and is the diva boss hated by her employees. Jordan’s assistant, April (Rae), is at a loss as to how to work with her any longer. She has big projectsRead More →

04 April
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PET SEMATARY Director: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis WidmyerStarring: Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, John Lithgow, Jeté Laurence, Hugo Lavoie, Lucas Lavoie Louis Creed (Clarke) and his wife Rachel (Seimetz) move their family from Boston to Ludlow, Maine when he gets a new job as a physician. Their new home causes Rachel some PTSD regarding the death of her sister. Their daughter, Ellie (Laurence), discovers an animal burial ground located on their property line. It’s used by the local kids who named it “Pet Sematary,” hence the misspelling. Jud Crandall (Lithgow), the Creed’s lone neighbor, is a bit grizzly and knows all about the town’s history regarding this cemetery.Read More →

04 April
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THE BEST OF ENEMIES Director: Robin BissellStarring: Taraji P. Henson, Sam Rockwell, Wes Bentley, Anne Heche, John Gallagher Jr, Bruce McGill In 1971 North Carolina, the town of Durham became the subject of a heated discussion over school segregation. A fire broke out at a local elementary school for black students. It’s a bit unclear who started it but signs point to the local chapter of the KKK. There are two options at hand. One is for the students to finish the school year trading off time in the remaining rooms unaffected or integrate at the school used predominately by white students. When the cityRead More →

04 April
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In Movie Reviews

SHAZAM! Director: David F. SandbergStarring: Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Mark Strong, Djimon Hounsou The wizard council is destined to find one soul worthy of becoming the next grand high wizard to save the planet from destruction against the seven deadly sins. Decades pass before they find a young kid who’s pure in heart and soul. That just happens to be fourteen-year-old Billy Batson (Angel). He’s led a complicated life running from one foster home to the next in search of his birth mom. Just as he arrives at the home of a new foster family, he finds himself transported to another worldRead More →

02 April
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In Special Series

FINDING FOSSE AT VIDEO UNIVERSE I went back to Video Universe for a new monthly series. This time I’m after some Bob Fosse, the legendary choreographer/director of Cabaret. He won the Oscar for Best Director beating Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather. That same year he won the Emmy for his concert/documentary Liza with a Z and won the Tony for directing Pippin on Broadway. Fosse and his wife and frequent collaborator, Gwen Verdon, are the subject of the new FX mini-series, Fosse/Verdon, premiering April 9th with Oscar winner Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as Fosse and four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams withRead More →