Category Archives: Film Reviews

Film reviews and analyses. Most recently published is in front.

The Batman (2022)

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Mark DuPré

The Batman is perhaps the most unusual of Batman films. It’s certainly the most beautiful, the slowest, the longest (just under three hours), and the most enigmatic. It’s part Taxi Driver, part Joker (which was already part Taxi Driver), part … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Andy Serkis, Cloverfield, Danny DeVito, Greig Fraser, Hoyte Van Hoytema, Jeffrey Wright, Joker, Kristen Stewart, Little Miss Sunshine, Matt Reeves, Michael Giacchino, Paul Dano, Planet of the Apes, Ratatouille, Robert Pattinson, Spectre, Taxi Driver, The Batman, The Godfather: Part II, There Will be Blood, Twilight, Up, Zoë Kravitz | Leave a comment

Licorice Pizza

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Mark DuPré

Licorice Pizza has been nominated for three Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay). It’s been honored by several other groups, and has been hailed as a refreshing departure from director Paul Thomas Anderson, director of Boogie Nights, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Alana Haim, Alliance of Women Film Journalists, Boogie Nights, Bradley Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Cooper Hoffman, Haim, Inherent VIce, John C. Reillu, John Michael Higgins, Licorice Pizza, Lola rennt, Maya Rudoph, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sean Penn, There Will be Blood, Tom Waits | Leave a comment

American Underdog

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Mark DuPré

American Underdog is a real-life Rudy combined with all the Rocky films put in an acceptable-to-most-folks Christian film structure. As a feel-good story of a real-life underdog, Super Bowl-winning quarterback Kurt Warner, it’s well acted and generally well produced. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Andrew Erwin, Anna Paquin, Chuck, I Can Only Imagine, Jon Erwin, Rocky, Rudy, Sandra Bullock, She Loves Me, Tangled, The Blind Side, The Piano, Woodlawn, Zachary Levi | Leave a comment

West Side Story (2021)

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Mark DuPré

In a word, it’s fantastic. Don’t wait for it to come to a streaming channel, and don’t wait to rent it. Just go to a big theater and watch it. You can thank me later. I think I had the … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Ansel Elgort, Audrey Hepburn, Carol Lawrence, Citizen Kane, Deborah Kerr, George Chakiris, Jerome Robbins, José Carreras, Kiri Te Kanawa, Larry Kert, Leonard Bernstein, Lincoln, Marnie Nixon, Munich, My Fair Lady, Natalie Wood, Rachel Zegler, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, Robert Wise, Stephen Spielberg, The King and I, The Sound of Music, Tony Kushner, West Side Story | Leave a comment

Quick Takes on Some Streaming Films

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Mark DuPré

Red Notice Tick, Tick…BOOM! Encounter Certainly the best new film streaming at the moment is The Power of the Dog (https://film-prof.com/2021/12/07/the-power-of-the-dog/). But of course there are several others that are relatively new, and they’re of varying quality. Note: I’m writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Amazon Prime, Andrew Garfield, Deadpool, Dwayne Johnson, Encounter, Gal Gadot, Hamilton, Jonathan Larson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lucien-River Chauhan, Netflix, Red Notice, Rent, Riz Ahmed, Ryan Reynolds, The Power of the Dog, The Sound of Metal, Tick Tick...Boom | Leave a comment

The Power of the Dog

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Mark DuPré

The Power of the Dog isn’t for everyone. It certainly isn’t for children, the squeamish, or those bothered by a constant state of dread and anticipation. For the rest, it’s a dark revisionist Western that doesn’t go where you think … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Benedict Cumberbatch, Bright Star, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Plainview, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Days of Heaven, Forrest Gump, Holly Hunter, Jane Campion, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Phantom Thread, The Master, The Piano, The Power of the Dog, The Road, The Tree of Life, There Will be Blood, X-Men: Apocalypse | 1 Comment

Dune (2021)

Posted on November 20, 2021 by Mark DuPré

Dune really isn’t as bad as many of the reviews have indicated. It has its strengths, and definitely has its weaknesses. And then, it has a tone that will either put you off or turn you on. Note: I’m not … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged Arrival, Bill Murray, Blade Runner 2049, Call Me By Your Name, Chris Pratt, Christopher Nolan, Dune, Dune: Part 1, Dune: Part 2, Dunkirk, Gladiator, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inception, Interstellar, Iron Man, Jason Mamoa, Josh Brolin, Lady Bird, Little Women, Men in Black: International, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgård, The Greatest Showman, The Lion King, Thor, Timothée Chalamet, Villeneuve, Zendaya | Leave a comment

No Time to Die

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Mark DuPré

The last James Bond film starring Daniel Craig will probably best be remembered as simply his last Bond film. As a film, it’s way too long, and has too many featured characters, especially when it comes to “Bond girls” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Newer films | Tagged 007, Ana de Armas, Ben Whishaw, Broccoli, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, James Bond, Jeffrey Wright, Knives out 2, Knives Out 3, Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, No Time to Die, Ralph Fiennes, Rami Malek, Scarlett O-Hara, Vesper | Leave a comment

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Posted on October 9, 2021 by Mark DuPré

If Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Avatar had a baby, it would be something like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (hereafter referred to simply as Shang-Chi). Not being a particular Marvel fanboy, but being interested in how … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged Avatar, Awkwafina, Ben Kingsley, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, DC, Gandhi, House of Sand and Fog, Iron Man 3, Marvel, Michelle Yeoh, Schindler's List, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Simu Liu, Tony Leung | Leave a comment

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les parapluies de Cherbourg) (French, 1964)

Posted on September 6, 2021 by Mark DuPré

DNow is probably the right time to take a first or second look at The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. There is nothing else like it, not even writer-director Jacques Demy’s next film, The Young Girls of Rochefort, and that one starred … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Reviews, Older Films | Tagged Agnes Varda, Annette, Brigitte Bardot, Danielle Darrieux, Dr. Zhivago, Edith Piaf, Francoise Dorléac, gene kelly, George Chakiris, I Will Wait for You, Jacques Demy, Jane Fonda, Jeanette MacDonald, Judy Garland, La Vie en Rose, Les Miserables, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, Marion Cotillard, Michel Legrand, Michel Piccoli, New Wave, Phantom of the Opera, Roger Vadim, singin' in the rain, Summer of '42, The Sound of Music, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The Windmills of Your Mind, Vittoria De Sica, Yentl, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow | Leave a comment