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.

From Prohibiting to Demanding: The Newest Unnecessary and Anti-Art Regulations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Mark DuPré

Most folks with even a cursory knowledge of American film history knows about the Hayes Code. In brief: the Hayes Code was implemented by the film industry in the early 1930s primarily to avoid government censorship and to attempt to … Continue reading →

Posted in Film-Related Articles | Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Academy Award, Baby Face, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Freaks, Hayes Code, It Happened One Night, Jaws, Mae West, Oscar, Scarface, Schindler's List, SNL, The Bad Seed, The Godfather, The Goodbye Girl, The Letter | Leave a comment

Quick Takes on Four Recent Rom-Coms: Anyone But You, The Idea of You, A Family Affair, and Hit Man

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Mark DuPré

I remember often telling my college film class students that they really didn’t know how wonderful romantic comedies could be, as we were then living in an age of wretched films in that genre. I emphasized that though it might … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Family Affair, Adria Arjona, Anne Hathaway, Anyone But You, Brad Pitt, Crazy Rich Asians, Glen Powell, Hit Man, Joey King, Matthew McConaughey, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nicole Kidman, Nietzsche, Notting Hill, Palm Springs, Shop Around the Corner, Sydney Sweeney, The Big Sick, The Favourite, The Idea of You, Twisters, We Were the Lucky Ones, You've Got Mail, Zac Efron | Leave a comment

A Quiet Place: Day One

Posted on July 7, 2024 by Mark DuPré

A Quiet Place: Day One isn’t at all what one might expect based on the first two films. It is altogether different in emphasis, tone, and degree of warmth. It’s a well-crafted and well-acted prequel to the other two films, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged 12 Years a Slave, A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place Part II, A Quiet Place: Day One, Alex Wolf, Amistad, Apocalypse Now, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Blood Diamond, Dakota Fanning, Denis Villeneuve, Djimon Hounsou, Dune, Game of Thrones, Gladiator, In America, Joseph Quinn, Lupito Nyong'o, Martin Sheen, Oppenheimer, Pig, Shelley Duvall, Stranger Things, The Shining, War of the Worlds | Leave a comment

Stars Are Born: A Comparison of the Five “A Star is Born” Films

Posted on June 21, 2024 by Mark DuPré

There isn’t much of any interest in movie theaters these days, so it’s a good time to remind everyone of all the classics available to enjoy. In fact, it’s always a good time to view the classics. So here is … Continue reading →

Posted in Film-Related Articles, Newer films, Older Films | Tagged 1932, 1937, 1954, 1976, 2018, A Star is Born, Adela Rogers St. Johns, Adolphe Menjou, Andy Devine, Barbara Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Bat, Batman, Bing Crosby, Bradley Cooper, Climb Every Mountain, Constance Bennett, D.W. Griffith, Eddie Rochester Anderson, Evergreen, Frank Pierson, Frederic March, Gene Fowler, George Cukor, Gone with the Wind, Humphrey Bogart, James Mason, Jane Murfin, Janet Gaynor, Joan Bennett, Judy Garland, Kris Kristofferson, Lady Gaga, Lionel Stander, Louise Beavers, Lowell Sherman, Maestro, Marlon Brando, May Robson, Meet Me in St. Louis, On the Waterfront, Owen Moore, Paul Williams, Peggy Wood, Rebecca, RKO Pathé, Robert Carson, Sunrise, Sunset Boulevard, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Caine Mutiny, The Country Girl, The High and the Mighty, The Ox-Bow Indcident, The Wizard of Oz, William Wellman | Leave a comment

The Fall Guy

Posted on June 3, 2024 by Mark DuPré

The Fall Guy is the best middling but well-timed film of the year so far. Released shortly after the Oscars a couple of months ago, it benefited greatly from the all the press that Ryan Gosling received for his Oscar-nominated … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | 1 Comment

Sandra Hüller: The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall

Posted on May 19, 2024 by Mark DuPré

The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall were two of the most celebrated foreign language films of 2023. Among many other international awards, the former won Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound, while the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Anatomy of a Fall, Anatomy of a Murder, Auschwitz, Cannes, James Stewart, Life is Beautiful, Meet Me in St. Louis, Messi, Milo Machado-Graner, Oppenheimer, Rudolf Huss, Samuel Theis, Sandra Huller, Schindler's List, Swan Arland, The Zone of Interest | Leave a comment

Tiger Bay (1959) and Hayley Mills

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Mark DuPré

My first celebrity crush was blonde ingenue Hayley Mills. If you are older or have seen old Disney movies, you may remember her from 1960’s Pollyanna and/or 1961’s The Parent Trap—the original one. Those were probably the first two films … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged A Fistful of Dollars, Anton Yelchin, BAFTA, Brittany Murphy, Chadwick Boseman, Clint Eastwood, David Lean, entertainment, film, Great Expectations, Hayley Mills, Heath Ledger, Hollywood, Horst Buchholz, In Which We Serve, J. Lee Thompson, James Dean, John Mills, kitchen-sink drama, Life is Beautiful, Liza Minnelli, movies, New Wave, news, Noel Coward, Omar Shariff, Pollyanna, River Phoenix, Roy Boulting, Ryan's Daughter, So Well Remembered, The Guns of Navarone, The Magnificent Seven, The Parent Trap, West Side Story, Whistle Down the Wind | Leave a comment

Scattered Thoughts on Killers of the Flower Moon

Posted on April 13, 2024 by Mark DuPré

Gladstone, De Niro and DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon What? Why are you writing about that “old” movie now? Well, yes, Killers of the Flower Moon was released way back in October 2023, and yes, it’s been nominated … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged BAFTA, Emma Stone, Giant, Killers of the Flower Mon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Martin Scorsese, Poor Things, Red Tails, Robert De Niro, Silence, The Boys in the Boat, The Irishman, There Will be Blood | Leave a comment

Dune: Part Two

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Mark DuPré

Science fiction is not my thing—so hard to connect with for me. Plus, movies that have so many characters doing so many things can get confusing for me. That said, Dune: Part Two is the best mainstream film of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Austin Butler, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Nolan, Christopher Walken, Dave Bautista, David Lean, Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two, Dunkirk, Florence Pugh, Gladiator, Greig Fraser, Hans Zimmer, Inception, Intersellar, James Brolin, Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men, Patrice Vernette, Peter Jackson, Rain Man, Thanos, The Batman, The Blind Side, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Lion King, The Whale, Timothée Chalamet, Timothe, Zendaya, Zero Dark Thirty, Zsuszanna Sipos | Leave a comment

Cabrini

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Mark DuPré

This film analysis/review will be in two parts to give me an opportunity to respond fully. First, the film as a film: Cabrini is the story of the first American Catholic saint, Mother Francesca Xavier Cabrini, the Italian immigrant who … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged A Man for All Seasons, Alejandro Monteverde, Angel Studios, Bella, Bergman, Cabrini, Christiana Dell'Anna, David Morse, Dreyer, Francesca Cabrini, Giuseppe Rotunno, J. Eustace Wolfington, Jesus, John Lithgow, Philippians 4:13, Pope Leo XIII, Sound of Freedom, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Vittorio Storato | Leave a comment