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.

Dark Victory (1939)

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Melodramas have a bad reputation, as if this were a lesser genre than say, the musical, action/adventure, the biopic, the suspenseful thriller, and horror. But Gone with the Wind was a melodrama, as was Titanic. More recently, Manchester by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Academy Awards, All This and Heaven Too, awards, Bette Davis, Beyond the Forest, Casablanca, Dangerous, Dark Victory, Edmund Goulding, Emilia Perez, film, George Brent, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Gone with the Wind, Grand Hotel, High Sierra, Humphrey Bogart, In This Our Life, Jezebel, Johnny Belinda, King's Row, Knute Rockne All American, Life with Father, Manchester by the Sea, Max Steiner, MGM, Mildred Pierce, movies, Now Voyager, Of Human Bondage, Oscars, Petrified Forest, Ronald Reagan, Scarlett O'Hara, Since You Went Away, The Caine Mutiny, The Garden of Allah, The Great Lie, The Informer, The Iron Claw, The Maltese Falcon, The Old Maid, The Rich are Always With Us, The Roaring Twenties, The Whale, Vivien Leigh, Warner Brothers, Wuthering Heights | Leave a comment

Quick 2026 Oscar Show Response

Posted on March 17, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Although the numbers watching the Oscars telecast has been inching upward these past few years, remember that more than 25 years ago, 57 million folks tuned in. Now it’s just a bit more than 20 million. Many reasons for that, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film-Related Articles | Tagged Academy Awards, Amy Madigan, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, awards, Barbra Streisand, Bridesmaids, Brigitte Bardot, Bud Cort, Catherine O'Hara, Chris Evans, Conan O'Brien, Diane Keaton, Eric Dane, f1, film, Golden, Hamnet, I Lied to You, James Van Der Beek, Jesse Buckley, Michael B. Jordan, MIchelle Willians, movies, No Country for Old Men, One Battle After Another, Oscars, Oscars 2026, Paul Thomas Anderson, Rob Reiner, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Redford, Sean Penn, Sinners, The Devil Wears Prada, Timothée Chalamet, Weapons | Leave a comment

Oscar Predictions 2026

Posted on March 12, 2026 by Mark DuPré

This year is one of the most—and least—predictable Academy Awards seasons in history. I’m not entering a contest this year and therefore have little investment in who ends up with the gold statue. But since some folks ask, here we … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amy Madigan, Best Casting, f1, Frankenstein, Golden, Hamnet, Jesse Buckley, KPop Demon Hunters, Michael B. Jordan, One Battle After Another, Oscar nominations 2026, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sean Penn, Sentimental Value, Sinners, The Perfect Neighbor, Train Dreams, Weapons | Leave a comment

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Posted on March 3, 2026 by Mark DuPré

A child molester-murderer is on the loose. A city is terrified, and mothers are keeping children close. Police, who are too many times lazy and distracted, finally focus on the case. The underground syndicate also wants to find the murderer, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged A Free Soul, Casablanca, film, Fritz Lang, horror, lietmotiv, Lionel Barrymore, Looney Tunes, M, movie-reviews, movies, Peter Lorre, police procedural, reviews, serial killer, Sophia Loren, The Women, thriller | Leave a comment

Oscar Show Wishes

Posted on February 26, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Every year the Oscar show leaves me wondering why, again, they forgot to ask me how to make it better (lol). Of course, I realize the show’s structure for this year is locked in at this point, but in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film-Related Articles | Tagged Academy Awards, Adrian Brody, Best Song, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Rock, Diane Warren, film, In Memoriam, life, Oscar Hall of Fame, Oscars, Rob Lowe, Snow White, To Dream the Impossible Dream, Will Smith, writing | Leave a comment

“Wuthering Heights” (2026)

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Mark DuPré

“Wuthering Heights” is a gorgeous looking fetid fever-dream that takes one too many turns toward the twisted and perverse in a story already full of darkness. It’s a spicy paperback come to pulsating and regrettable life. Think gilding the lily, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged "Adolescence", "Wuthering Heights", Cathy, Charlotte Mellington, Emerald Fennell, emily-bronte, Gone with the Wind, Heathcliff, Hong Chau, Jacob Elordi, John Barrymore, Leslie Howard, Margot Robbie, Marie Anthoinette, Martin Clunes, Norma Shearer, Owen. Cooper, Romeo and Juliet, Sofia Coppolla, The Wale, Wuthering Heights | Leave a comment

Blue Moon

Posted on February 18, 2026 by Mark DuPré

Blue Moon is a 2025 small, focused film that addressed that great musical theater moment when “Rodgers and Hart” died, and “Rodgers and Hammerstein” was born, and its effects on Hart. We’re talking the great composer/lyricist team of Richard Rodgers … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Complete Unkknown, Andrew Scott, Before Midnight, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Blue Moon, Bobby Cannavale, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Carousel, Dancing on the Ceiling, E.G White, Elizabeth Weiland, Ethan Hawke, Falling in Love with Love, Ferrari, George Hill, George Roy Hill, Jonah Lees, Lorenz Hart, Margaret Qualley, Maria, Mickey Rooney, My Funny Valentine, My Heart Stood Still, Oklahoma!, Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Linklater, Richard Rodgers, Sardi's, South Pacitic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Stephen Sondheim, Ten Cents a Dance, The King and I, The Lady is a Tramp, The Sound of Music, The Sting, Tom Drake, Where or When, Words and Music | Leave a comment

The Lost Squadron (1932)

Posted on February 13, 2026 by Mark DuPré

The Lost Squadron is a pre-Code* melodrama/buddy movie/action film/romance/murder film, and yes, the film is as pieced together and strange as that description sounds. The plot is an easy and straightforward one at the beginning but then it takes some … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Cimarron, Coming Home, David O. Selznick, Dawn Patrol, Erich von Stroheim, George Archainbaud, Greed, Hell's Angels, Joel McCrea, King Kong, La Grande Illusion, Mary Astor, Pre-Code, Richard Dix, RKO, Roger Armstrong, Sunset Boulevard, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Big Parade, The Great Lie, The Lost Squadron, The Roading Twenties, What Price Hollywood?, Wings | Leave a comment

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

Author Archives: Mark DuPré

About Mark DuPré

Dark Victory (1939)

Oscar Predictions 2026

M

“Wuthering Heights” (2026)

Blue Moon

The Lost Squadron (1932)

Avatar: Fire and Ash and Mercy

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