★★★★ (4 Stars) is the Highest Rating
Table This Film…For Good
Have you ever attended a wedding and ended up wanting to crawl into a hole because you were seated at a table with complete strangers? Despite the initial awkwardness, these situations… Read more about Table 19 (PG-13) ★★…
Logan is the tenth X-Men movie . . . and might just be the best.
When I review a film from any franchise that has what might be described as “rabid fans”—be it Star Wars,… Read more about Logan (R) ★★★½…
Get Out and See this Film
You cannot always judge a book by its cover. Similarly, you shouldn’t judge a movie by its trailer. These words of wisdom are especially true for the film Get… Read more about Get Out (R) ★★★½…
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 about Oscar Blog-Part 4 Best Documentary, Best Original Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Original Song…
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 about Oscar Blog Part 3-Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design…
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 about Oscar Blog Part 2, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Animated Film…
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 about Fist Fight (R) ★½…
It’s Oscar Time!
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 about Oscar’s BackStage Pass Blog 2017 Part 1-Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor…
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 about The Lego Batman Movie (PG) ★★★…
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 about Silence (R) ★★★★…
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 the… Read more about Sarah’s Top 20 Movies of 2016…
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 about Julieta (R) ★★★½…
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 about Nocturnal Animals (R) ★★★½…
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 about Manchester By the Sea (R) ★★★½…
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 about La La Land (PG-13) ★★★½…
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—The Sixth… Read more about Split (PG-13) ★★★…
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 about Patriots Day (R) ★★★½…
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 about Moonlight (R) ★★★★…
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 equally… Read more about Live By Night (R) ★½…
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 about Hidden Figures (PG) ★★★★…
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 about Jackie (R) ★★★½…
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 about Erika’s Favorite Movies of 2016…
“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 about Miss Sloane (R) ★★★…
“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 about Bleed for This (R) ★★★…