It’s May 4th which means it’s Star Wars Day. Sadly I dropped the ball this year. Due to the load of movie screeners I STILL need to watch, I wasn’t able to put together a big post celebrating that galaxy far, far away. But that couldn’t stop from at least geeking out a little. After all, that’s what this day is all about and as an unashamed Star Wars geek, I feel it’s my duty.

This year’s highlight is the premiere of a new Disney+ animated show “The Bad Batch”, a spiritual successor of sorts to the acclaimed “The Clone Wars” series. I had the privilege of seeing the first two episodes early and let me just say the series gets off to a stellar start. The 72-minute pilot is available now on Disney’s streaming service and you don’t want to miss it.

So how can I pay tribute to this franchise that has meant so much to me over the years? How about with a simple gallery of some of the greatest, most unique, and utterly unforgettable characters who have populated this incredible universe over the years? Enjoy them, let me know which are your favorites, and share some of your favorite Star Wars memories. Oh, and of course, May the 4th be with you….always.

Christoph Waltz makes his feature directorial debut in the acidic crime drama “Georgetown”. The film actually had its world premiere way back in 2019 at the Tribeca Film Festival and is just now set for its release here in the States. It’s based on Franklin Foer’s 2012 New York Times Magazine story “The Worst Marriage in Georgetown”. Waltz not only directs but also stars alongside Vanessa Redgrave, Annette Benning, and Corey Hawkins.  

Waltz plays Ulrich Mott, a man starving for social status who marries a wealthy 90-year-old socialite (Redgrave). When she suddenly winds up dead, attention turns to Mott. Soon a web of previously unnoticed lies and deception reveal that Mott may not be the man he claims to be. This looks like a nasty and toxic crime drama which (if handled well) could be utterly fascinating. It could also go the other way fast. I’ll remain optimistic. I really like the cast and I love the potential bite that this movie could pack.

“Georgetown” is set to release May 14th in select theaters and May 18th on VOD. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

German filmmaker Christian Petzold made two of my favorite films of the last decade – 2014’s crushing post-World War II drama “Phoenix” and 2018’s beguiling “Transit”. His most recent film “Undine” released in Europe in 2020 and now it’s finally getting a US release courtesy of IFC Films. And considering his last two stellar efforts, I’m for anything Petzold puts out there.

The film sees Petzold reuniting with his two stars from “Transit”, Paula Beer and Frank Rogowski. Beer plays the titular character, a historian and museum guide who watches her world crumble after she learns her love Johannes (Jacob Matschenz) is leaving her. But when she meets Christoph (Rogowski) the movie takes on a sly fairy tale feel. The new trailer gives us a lot to chew on and makes it clear Petzold’s romance will be filled with mystery and may have a supernatural flavor. I’m incredibly intrigued.

“Undine” releases June 4th in select theaters and on VOD. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

NEON is one of the most compelling distributors of our day. A few days back they dropped a trailer for what looks to be another fascinating part of their catalog. “New Order” is the latest film from visionary writer-director Michael Franco. This dystopian thriller looks to have a biting relevance and an unflinchingly brutal perspective on class, civil unrest, and government power. The film premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Frstival. Now it’s on its way to American theaters courtesy of NEON.

The film sets itself in Mexico in the not-to-distant future. In the early scenes we see a lavish high-society wedding suddenly interrupted by armed rioters. The invaders are part of a violent uprising of the oppressed lower class who overrun the city. Meanwhile the government sees the chaos as an opportunity to overpower the populace and put in place a military-ran dictatorship. Obviously Franco lays some heavy topics on the table and it will be interesting to see how far he goes with it.

“New Order” opens in select theaters May 21st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

An exciting first trailer as dropped for the upcoming Netflix survival thriller “Oxygen”. It comes from director Alexandre Aja whose last movie was the surprisingly entertaining “Crawl”. You know, the one about a father and daughter trapped inside their flooded home by killer alligators during a Category 5 hurricane. On paper it sounded ludicrous. But Aja showed off a real knack for harrowing tight-quartered action and tension-building. I had a blast with it.

With “Oxygen” Aja is going in a much different direction but shows off the same tension-soaked style of filmmaking. Making it even more appealing is the wonderful French actress Mélanie Laurent. In the trailer we see her wake up in what appears to be a high-tech cryo chamber, no bigger than a casket but with all kinds of futuristic bells and whistles. She’s instantly distressed, not aware of who she is or how she got there. Even worse, the unit is slowly running out of oxygen meaning she’ll need to piece together her memories if she has any hope of getting out alive. I love the concept, I love the look of the film, and I’m a fan of Laurent. Sign me up.

“Oxygen” premieres May 12th on Netflix. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

After a crazy year impacted by a pandemic and following a long extended awards season, we finally get to put 2020 to rest with the Academy Awards. Much like the 2020 movie year, Oscar night was unusual – really weird actually. It was a hodgepodge of highs, lows, and downright bewilderment. There were some major surprises, a couple of expected bummers, and some of most baffling production decisions in Oscar broadcast history. As you can probability tell, Hollywood’s big show left us with plenty to talk about. So as I do every year, here are a few random thoughts on this year’s Academy Awards.

• First off, I do appreciate the effort of everyone who made sure an Oscar ceremony happened. It wasn’t easy and it was never going to be “normal”. Still I gotta say, this entire show was unbelievably dry and lacked some much needed energy. I can’t imagine anyone sticking with it other than us die-hards.
• This year’s Oscars was produced by Steven Soderbergh and let’s just say his ‘big’ ideas blew up in his face. The most baffling was the decision to move Best Picture from the final award of the night and stick it ahead of Lead Actor and Lead Actress. I get that there was a vague theme spotlighting individual achievement, but this isn’t a made-for-TV movie. Best Picture is last for a reason (aside from being BEST FREAKING PICTURE). It acknowledges the MANY people (many who don’t have an individual Oscar category) who come together to make a movie great. Moving it not only lessened the buzz around the winner, it also opened the door for a MUCH bigger fail (more on that later).
• “Nomadland” continued its incredible awards season run by taking home Best Picture. It was the clear frontrunner and a deserving winner. Sadly it’s big moment was undercut by its nutty placement in the show which is a shame.
• Speaking of weird placement, there was really no rhyme or reason to Soderbergh and company’s order of things. Was he just shaking things up for the heck of it? Take Best Director that just randomly came up early in the show. Chloé Zhao won for “Nomadland” which was great moment.

• Zhao is only the second woman to win Best Director in 93 years. Let that sink in for a minute.
• The night’s biggest and best surprise coincided with the show’s biggest flub up. The producers made the misguided choice to end the show with Best Actor, clearly anticipating a Chadwick Boseman win and shamelessly hoping to tap into the emotions of that moment. One problem with that – Anthony Hopkins won and the 83-year-old Welshman wasn’t able to be there. So it ended with Joaquin Phoenix accepting on his behalf and then show over! A major face-plant for the show and a disservice to everyone involved including the viewers.
• As for the actual winner, I let out a jubilant scream when Hopkins’ name was announced. Not a knock on Boseman who was quite good in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”. But Hopkins gives one of the best performances of the last ten years. And when you look past the emotions, the greatness of that Hopkins performance becomes clearer. Boseman wasn’t “snubbed” as some outlets are already crying. This is the case of a worthy performance winning over a ‘moment’ the show runners were banking on.
• Anthony Hopkins becomes the oldest person to ever win an Academy Award.
• This show made me realize how much I missed those super weird YouTube destined Oscar moments. You know, like John Travolta introducing “Idell Dazeem” (whoever that is).
• Best Actress gave us yet another surprise – Frances McDormand won for “Nomadland”. It’s such a well-deserved win and one of my favorite performances of the year. But I had written her off considering how little buzz she had been getting. This category could have went several ways – Carey Mulligan or Viola Davis. The Academy got it right.
• I (and many others) were astonished by the lack of clips from nominated movies or individual performances. A couple of seemingly arbitrary categories had them, but overall they were rare and the show could have really used them.
• Up until last night I had never heard of “Da Butt”. With all due respect to the great Glenn Close, after last night I really don’t care if I ever hear of it again.
• Speaking of Glenn Close, she has now been nominated for an Academy Award eight times without a win. No, that doesn’t make her the Oscar’s Susan Lucci but eight is a lot.
• Instead Youn Yuh-jung wins Best Supporting Actress for “Minari”. Not only did she deserve the win but she gave us the second best speech of the night. She was happy to win the award and even happier to have it presented by none other than Brad Pitt. It was both sweet and hilarious.

• “Another Round” wins Best International Film which I LOVED seeing. It’s a tremendous movie that also deserved a Best Picture nomination. But at least it wins something.
• Thomas Vinterberg, the director of “Another Round”, gave the speech of the night. He was happy, humble, and genuinely emotional, especially when talking about his late daughter who died just weeks into the film’s production. I’m not sure how many people knew about her connection to the movie, but Vinterberg’s words were from a thankful yet aching heart. And as a dad with a 16-year-old daughter, they really struck a chord.
• Daniel Kaluuya wins Best Supporting Actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah” which is no surprise considering he’s won everywhere. That doesn’t make this a particularly great performance. Kaluuya nails the moments of powerful intensity but is carried by Dominique Fishback in the quieter and more intimate scenes (where was her nomination?).
• The annual In Memoriam tribute is a pretty easy thing to get right. You honor those lost over the last year by showing a montage playing to soft heartfelt music. But my gosh the producers even botched it. They literally sped through segments so fast that it felt as if the video were randomly kicking into another speed. To make matters worse it was accompanied by an upbeat Stevie Wonder tune that only made matters worse.
• Maybe they thought if they sped through it people would miss the yearly omissions they’ve become notorious for. Still, names like Connery, Boseman, de Havilland, Von Sydow, Tyson, Morricone, and Plummer deserved better.
• In perhaps the most predictable win of the night, “Soul” takes home Best Animated Feature. Lots of online buzz for “Wolfwalkers” but Pixar had this one in the bag.
• “Mank” entered as the most nominated film of the night. I loved the movie but it’s chances of winning big never felt very high. It didn’t go home empty-handed, winning well-deserved awards for both Production Design and Cinematography.

• About cinematography, how on earth was “Tenet” not nominated? It did win for Best Visual Effects, but DP Hoyte van Hoytema at least deserved a mention.
• Ok, the odds of “Husavik” winning Best Original Song were slim but I still believe it to be the best of the nominated bunch.
• “My Octopus Teacher” wins the Best Documentary Oscar! Here’s a film with little buzz that I had heard practically nothing about until it was nominated. And then it surprises everyone with a big win. I’m actually ok with this. It’s a beautiful, weird, and moving story.
• In yet another of the night’s out-of-left-field choices, the show kicked off with the two Screenplay awards. Best adapted went to “The Father”, Best Original to “Promising Young Woman”. No problem with either, but to start off the show?
• The Academy really spread the wealth around with almost all of the major players winning something. The lone exception was “The Trial of the Chicago 7” which won nothing and didn’t really deserve most of the nominations it received.
• Netflix entered the evening with 36 total nominations and managed to take home 7 statues. Not bad for a studio once shunned by some of Hollywood’s biggest and most powerful names. I think everyone realizes now that the streaming giant is set to be a force in the industry (and on Oscar night) for years to come.

So with that comes the end of the 2020 movie year. What did you think of the show? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!