★★★★ (4 Stars) is the Highest Rating
Oscar Blog Part 4-Final Oscar Blog!
Wow, Oscar weekend 2017 is here! We are very excited over here at Sarah’s Backstage Pass, as this is a huge weekend for us! We love viewing the Academy … Read more
Oscar Blog Part 3
*BEST DIRECTOR – Damien Chazelle, La La Land, Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea (Should win) Nominees: Denis Villeneuve, Arrival, Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge, Damien Chazelle, La La Land, Kenneth Lonergan, … Read more
Oscar Blog Part 2
Hi again, here’s the next installment; happy reading. Wow, it’s getting exciting the last week before Oscar. Hey, do you have your tickets to the best viewing party in Chicagoland? I’ll … Read more
Hey comedy directors: when your end-credits blooper reel is funnier than the rest of your movie, you’ve failed.
Fist Fight should have at least been decent; its trailers gave me hope. It stars the high-strung, … Read more
As an avid life-long Academy Award watcher, I’ve always enjoyed attempting to see all Oscar-worthy films, along with selecting my personal winners. The Oscars are my Super Bowl so to speak, an … Read more
The Lego Batman Movie is fun (and funny), but not quite as awesome as its predecessor.
The Lego Movie surprised everyone in 2014. Nobody expected it to be good, much less one of the … Read more
Have Faith in Silence
For living legend Martin Scorsese, who spent nearly 30 years trying to get this film made and even contemplated joining the priesthood, it would be an understatement to call Silence a … Read more
Top 20 (Award-Worthy) Films of 2016 Listed in order of favorites starting with #1
*Please note that I have not screened Martin Scoreses’s Silence this list may change.
1. Arrival—Science Fiction, based on … Read more
A Mother and Child Reunion?
With the slew of super hero mega films, book to film adaptations and unoriginal American pictures that hope the star power will singlehandedly carry the film, foreign films are often … Read more
Tom Ford Designs Another Work of Art
In the build-up to Oscar season, Hollywood studios release their “best films” from Thanksgiving to Christmas to such an extent that it can be overwhelming to the public. … Read more
Heartwrenching Family Drama with Excellent Performances
Manchester by the Sea is a movie wherein the more you discuss the great aspects of the film, the more it sounds like your worst nightmare. And by discussing … Read more
Upbeat Musical with Beautiful Stars
Opening on a warm California winter’s day, we view a typical LA freeway traffic jam and an over-the-top atypical song and dance number; La La Land thus proclaims itself as … Read more
James McAvoy helps save M. Night Shyamalan from himself in Split.
Like many others, I have been frustrated by M. Night Shyamalan’s career. Since I am a big fan of his first five movies—… Read more
Patriots Day is a powerful reminder of this country at its best.
As I left for the Patriots Day screening, my husband asked me to remind him what I was seeing. After I told him, … Read more
Raw Emotion Strikes a Chord with Universal Themes
Superficially, one might sum up Moonlight by declaring that it presents three chapters of a gay black Miami man’s life. However, the film delves much deeper than … Read more
Ben Affleck’s really weird gangster film is a dud.
“What. Is. Happening?!?”
While watching Live by Night, I turned to the person next to me and asked this question several times. She was … Read more
Appropriately Titled Feel-Good Feature
In the early 1960s, tensions between the U.S and Russia were so strong that it even spilled over into the space programs. After the Russians jumped ahead in the Space Race … Read more
Portman Brings Jackie to Life
The Kennedy family was nicknamed “America’s First Family” and there has been no shortage of interest in them over the years. America’s obsession with the Kennedy’s has inspired countless books, … Read more
I make my annual Top 10 list based on my favorite movies—which are not always the films that I think are the “best” (read: award-worthy). I consider which movies I know I’ll return to … Read more
“Miss Sloane” Is Ambitious, Fierce
If this past election has taught us anything, it’s that politics is an ugly business. Even more troubling than the viciousness of elections is that even with all of the … Read more
“Bleed for This” – Call It a Comeback
Boxing is nicknamed the “sweet science,” which is a strange name given that it is arguably the most violent and physically punishing sport. Anyone who steps into … Read more
When is an alien invasion movie not about an alien invasion?
Some of my favorite films (Looper, About Time, Safety Not Guaranteed, Back to the Future, Predestination) and novels (The Time Traveler’s … Read more
This movie is nuts.
The trailers for The Accountant would lead you to believe that it is a tense thriller in which Ben Affleck plays a high-functioning autistic man (Christian Wolff) who is both the … Read more
Sully is the movie America needs right now.
Time is on Sully’s side.
But it wasn’t on Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s (Tom Hanks) side on January 15, 2009, when a flock of Canadian geese … Read more