Movie Musing

The 2017 Oscars are most remembered for the Best Picture Winner announcement debacle where 'La La Land' was briefly named the champion, before 'Moonlight' getting the nod. But this gaffe overshadows what was a truly impressive year of cinema. In this episode we will reevaluate the major nominated categories by assessing how they played out, whether we would have nominated a different selection from that year, and what our winner would have been. Debates ensue. Music courtesy of Vernon West www.facebook.com/vernonwestmusic/

Ari Aster took the indie circuit by storm with his mighty horror debut 'Hereditary,' and lightning may have struck twice because he seems to have shaken off any semblance of a sophomore slump. In 'Midsommar,' we explore how the trauma can radically change people, the horror that follows, and whether social and cultural barriers can mask underlying truths. Music courtesy of Vernon West www.facebook.com/vernonwestmusic/

Why do we identify as "a fan" when we like something? Sure, we may love the content associated with a fictional world, but there is often something about it that resonates with us in our daily lives. This has been a unique opportunity for cinema goers and television aficionados in the online era and it has ushered in many new opportunities. Some are good, such as creating a community, sharing insight, and even influencing studios to produce good content with them in mind. But there are two sides of the coin. Studios now can't escape the fan formula when filming new flicks and sometimes the work suffers for it. And not to mention that the loudest fan voices can be amplified in bad ways. Join us as we explore the in's and out's of what it is to be a fan in the 21st century. Music courtesy of Vernon West www.facebook.com/vernonwestmusic/

What's true in a fictional world and when are interpretations valid? That all depends on who you ask. There are certainly times when creators get overzealous (looking at you, J.K. Rowling), but what about when the audience is out of line and the author is validating concepts that are being overlooked? We analyze several examples of this in film, television, and literature to take a closer look. Music courtesy of Vernon West www.facebook.com/vernonwestmusic/

After 11 years and 22 movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has produced the most epic of converging climaxes with Endgame. We have differing thoughts on how this compares to Infinity War, but what we can agree on is that the character development was unbelievable and we even reflect on thoughts from the Russo Brothers from a recent Q&A session we attended. Music courtesy of Vernon West www.facebook.com/vernonwestmusic/