Author Archives: Mark DuPré

About Mark DuPré

Retired (associate) pastor at a Christian church. Retired film professor at Rochester Institute of Technology. Husband for nearly 50 years to the lovely and talented Diane. Father to three children and father-in-law to three more amazing people. I continue some ministry duties even though retired from the pastoral staff position. Right now I'm co-writing a book, co-writing a serious musical drama, and am half-way through writing (on my own a month-long devotional.

Avatar: Fire and Ash and Mercy

Posted on January 31, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Within a short period of time, I saw a $400,000,000 behemoth of a film, and right after, a short and narratively tight $60,000,000 film. I enjoyed the smaller film. The first, of course, is the third installment of the Avatar … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Amanda Wilcer, Avatar: Fire and Ice, Avatar: The Way of Water, Chris Pratt, Dances with Wolves, Enemy of the State, James Cameron, Mercy, Minority Report, movies, Pamdora, Rebecca Ferguson, Rick Java, Studio 54 | Leave a comment

An Unfortunate Remake: High and Low (1963) / Highest 2 Lowest (2025)

Posted on January 17, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Remakes have a reputation of being inferior to the original. That’s not always true; there are many good-to-great films that are remakes. Some of the best include: The Maltese Falcon ((1941), a remake of the 1931 film of the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Film-Related Articles, Newer films, Older Films | Tagged A Star is Born, American Fiction, Anthony Ramos, Ben-Hur, David King, Denzel Washington, Diddy, Do the Right Thing, Fanfare d'Amour, film, Gondo, High and Low, Highest 2 Lowest, His Girl Friday, Hitchcock, Infernal Affairs, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Japan, Jay-Z, Jeffrey Wright, Liam Neeson, Love Affair, Manhattan, Mariah Carey, Marlon Brando, movies, Oceans 11, Psycho, Rashoman, Rosie Perez, Samuel L. Jackson, Satan Met a Lady, Sean Combs, Seven Samourai, Some Like it Hot, Spike Lee, The Blob, The Departed, The Fly, The Front Page, The Godfather, The Maltese Falcon, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Ten Commandments, The Thomas Crown Affair, Throne of Blood, Tom Cruise, Toshiro Mifune, True Grit, Westworld, Whitney Houston, Yojimbo, Yutaka Sada | Leave a comment

The Oscar “Consolation Prize” Awards: Making Up for Past Mistakes

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Film awards season is upon us officially with the Golden Globe awards, and while the various minor award-giving groups seem to be multiplying like shmoos, there is just one Great Prize—the Academy Awards. There is an annual cottage industry working … Continue reading →

Posted in Film-Related Articles | Tagged A Complete Unknown, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Single Man, A Streetcar Named Desire, Academy Awards, Alan Arkin, Anthony Hopkins, Apocalypse Now, Arthur, awards, Ball of Fire, Barbara Stanwyck, Beginners, Ben Johnson, Best Actor, Best Actreee, Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Bette Davis, BUtterfield 8, Call Me By Your Name, Casey Affleck, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Chicago, Chocolat, Christopher Plummer, City Slickers, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Cleopatra, Cocoon, Colin Firth, Coquette, Cyrano de Bergerac, Dangerous, Daniel Day-Lewis, Don Ameche, Elizabeth Taylor, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Fargp, Fences, film, Gangs of New York, George Burns, George Clooney, Golden Globes, Gone with the Wind, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Grace Moore, Henry Fonda, Hold Back the Dawn, It Happened One Night, Jack Palance, James Steward, Jerry Maguire, Jimmy Stewart, Joan Fontaine, John Gielgud, John Houseman, John Mills, Jose Ferrer, Juliet Binoche, Kate Winslet, La Vie en Rose, Laurence Olivier, Life is Beautiful, Little Children, Little Miss Sunshine, Louis B. Mayer, Manchester by the Sea, Marion Cotillard, Marlon Brando, Marty Supreme, Mary Pickford, Meryl Streep, Michael Clayton, Moulin Rouge!, movies, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Nicole Kidman, Norma Shearer, Of Human Bondage, Olivia De Havilland, On Golden Pond, On the Waterfront, One Night of Love, Oscar, Oscars, Raging Bull, Raintree County, Rebecca, Renee Zellweger, Robert De Niro, Robert Donat, Robert Duvall, Ryan’s Daughter, Sophie's Choice, Suddenly Last Summer, Sunset Boulevard, Suspicion, Syriana, Tender Mercies, The Artist, The Barretts of Wimpole Street, The Broadway Melody, The Cider House Rules, The Descendants, The English Patient, The Father, The Godfather, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Santini, The Hours, The King's Speech, The King's Speechj, The Last Picture Show, The Little Foxes, The Paper Chase, The Philadelpia, The Pianist, The Reader, The Silence of the Lambs, The Social Network, The Sunshine Boys, Timothy Chalamet, Titanic, Up in the Air, Viola Davis, Vivien Leigh, William Holden | Leave a comment

Nefarious

Posted on January 8, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Dedicated to Greg Blossom, who insisted I watch this film. Imagine C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters as a film. That’s the brief but deadly accurate description of 2024’s Nefarious. The film is from Believe Entertainment, producers of the God’s Not Dead … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Believe Entertainment, C.S. Lewis, Do You Believe?, film, Glenn Beck, God's Not Dead, horror, movie, movies, Nefarious, reviews, Sean Partrick Flanery, The Screwtape Letters | Leave a comment

Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Posted on January 2, 2026 by Mark DuPré

I had to dust off some my recollections of this film for this review, having seen it only once several years ago. With its MGM polish, high production values, and the star power of emerging legends Greer Garson and Laurence … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BBC, book-review, books, Clark Gable, Edmund Gwenn, Errol Flynn, Gone with the Wind, Greer Garson, Hays Code, Jane Austen, Joe Wright, Keira Knightley, Laurence Olivier, literature, Louis B. Mayer, Mary Boland, Matthew macfadyen, Maureen O'Sullivan, Mayer, MGM, miniseries, Miracle on 34th Street, Norma Shearer, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, Robert Donat, Robert Taylor, romance, Viven Leigh | Leave a comment

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Posted on December 19, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is the third installment in the Knives Out mysteries, which feature direction by Rian Johnson and star Daniel Craig as Southern detective Benoit Blanc. The films are Agatha Cristie-style mysteries that begin … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films, Uncategorized | Tagged Agatha Cristie, Benoit Blanc, Casablanca, Challengers, Daniel Craig, Elmer Gantry, film, Glenn Close, Grantchester, Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, Josh O'Connor, Kerry Washington, Knives Out, Mila Kunis, movies, priest, priests, Rian JOhnson, The Bishop's Wife, The Crown, Thomas Haden Church | Leave a comment

Jay Kelly

Posted on December 16, 2025 by Mark DuPré

Jay Kelly is the newest film starring George Clooney. It’s directed by Noah Baumbach (Oscar nominations for best adapted screenplay for Barbie, and for best original screenplay and director for Marriage Story). The story is written by Baumbach and actress … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films, Uncategorized | Tagged Adam Sandler, barbie, Bill Nighy, Billy Crudup, Emily Mortimer, film, George Clooney, Greta Gerwig, Jay Kelly, La La Land, Lady Bird, Lars and the Real Girl, Laura Dern, LInus Sandgren, Little Women, Love, Love Actually, Lovely and Amazing, Marriage Story, movies, Netflix, Noah Baumbach, Punch-Drunk Love, The Waterboy, Uncut Gems, Warner Bros. | Leave a comment

Wicked: For Good

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Mark DuPré

The second half of the two-parter was never going to be better than the first. The first had the element of freshness with its two leads, the joy of creating its world, and of course, that showstopper among all showstoppers, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged "The Girl in the Bubble", "There's No Place Like Home", Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, DEfying Gravity, Dune, Elphaba, Eternals, Ethan Slater, For Good, Gemma Chan, Glinda, I Love Trouble, Jeff Goldblum, Julia Roberts, Les Miserables, Michelle Yeoh, movies, musical, Nick Nolte, Richard Madden, The Phantom of the Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Wicked, Wicked: For Good | Leave a comment

The Running Man (2025)

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Mark DuPré

This year’s The Running Man, is a) a sequel to the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, or b) the latest from director Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Baby Driver), or c) the latest from quickly rising … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Ben Richards, Colman Domingo, Denzel Washington, Edgar Wright, film, Glen Powell, Liam Neeson, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Cera, movies, Paul Newman, reviews, The Americanos, The Kardashians, The Running Man, the-poseiden-adventure, William H. Macy | Leave a comment

Frankenstein (2025)

Posted on November 17, 2025 by Mark DuPré

I’ve not been the biggest Guillermo del Toro fan over the years, especially with his winning Best Picture and Best Director at the 2018 Oscars for The Shape of Water, one of the Academy’s most egregious errors. His new film, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged 1931, All Quiet on the Western Front, All the Light We Cannot See, Ephoria, film, Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro, horror, Iscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, Netflix, Oscar Isaac, Romantic Gothic, Saltburn, The Creature, The MOnster, The Shape of Water, Victor Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights | Leave a comment