Matt's Musings

Here's a look at the new movies I saw this week. Darkest Hour Starring: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristen Scott Thomas, Stephen Dillane, and Ben Mendelsohn Synopsis: At this point, we've covered World War II from many angles. And in recent years, we've had a number of Academy Award-nominated films tread over that ground. Even earlier this year, the great director Christopher Nolan tackled the period with "Dunkirk." "Darkest Hour" doesn't exactly tell a new part of history, but it certainly takes a new angle. In 2007, with "Atonement," director Joe Wright touched on the plight of troops on the beach at Dunkirk as part of that story. With his latest film, "Darkest Hour," he looks at the political battles behind the scenes as the government sought to find a way to bring those boys home. The film focuses on the early tumultuous days of Winston Churchill's time as Prime Minister, when he had to battle those in his own party ...

There are many, many new shows out there this winter, and it can be hard to keep up. Yet, I endeavor to help! In these weekly posts I review the pilot and second episode of as many scripted shows as I can get to. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks. Monday Nights: The Alienist, Mondays at 9 p.m. on TNT (Premiered January 22) About : This is a big swing for TNT, which adapted this period piece with sprawling European budgets and based on a popular novel from the early 1990s. It has a strong cast and lofty aspirations. I didn't love the first episode. It felt a little too been there, done that, which is a product of those type of shows exploding the past 20 years. I also noted that it felt like this show was creating a Holmes-Watson dynamic, which has also become well trod ground on the big and small screen over the past decade. While I didn't love the first episode, the second was a big step back to me. It was much slower in pace, and it felt like it...

We've reached February. While January is a mixed bag full of dumped releases and Award Contenders finally getting a wide release, February is a month where we start to see some of the first big releases of the new year. And one in particular is already tracking to be one of the biggest in the month's history. Friday, February 2: Winchester — There is really no season for horror movies. It used to be that people figured October was the month for these kind of releases, but really January and February are usually big months for low-budget horror films making a profit, as is the summer. This one is a bit of a high concept piece about the Winchester Mystery House, and starring Helen Mirren. It will be interesting to see how it defies the norms for this genre. Friday, February 9: Fifty Shades Freed — The third and final installment in the "Fifty Shades" franchise, this one promises to be the "climax" of the story. I actually thought the second film was a...

On Sunday, March 4 we'll learn which one of nine films nominated for Best Picture will claim the top prize. Between now and then, I'll be looking at each of the Best Picture Nominees, beginning today with "The Post." The Post Starring: Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Bob Odenkirk, Carrie Coon, Bradley Whitford, Tracy Letts, and Matthew Rhys Director: Steven Spielberg Total Nominations: 2 Nominated For: Best Picture; Best Actress (Streep) About: This was one of my favorites of the year, and at one point was considered a favorite in this awards competition. It tells the story of the team at the Washington Post, specifically editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks) and Publisher Katherine Graham (Streep), as they battled the government for the right to print the truth about what the Government knew about the Vietnam War. President Richard Nixon took them and the New York Times, which was the first to publish part of the Pentagon Papers, to court to stop publication. And Graham, i...

The 90th Academy Awards are on Sunday, March 4. Between now and then, I'll be previewing the races, and giving my thoughts on the films nominated. Today, I take a look at documentaries. Documentaries are some of the most fascinating and stories of the year. They can also be some of the most overlooked. Of the five documentaries nominated for Best Documentary Feature, I've seen four. And all four are available to stream right now. (As are two of the shorts, listed below.) So no excuses. Best Documentary Feature: * Faces Places * Abacus, Small Enough to Jail * Last Men in Aleppo * Icarus * Strong Island About the films: I haven't seen "Faces Places," the French film that was on a number of critics' Top 10 lists. It's probably something of a front-runner, but is still playing only in a limited number of theaters around the nation. But the other four are all available to stream and readily available ("Abacus" on PBS or Amazon Prime, ...

On Wednesday, voters elected Larry Wayne Jones, better known as Chipper, to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He received 410 votes, 97.2 percent, to lead the list of inductees on his first try. Having Chipper enter the Hall of Fame brought me joy, and feels like it was meant to be. When I was younger, my introduction to baseball was in the 1990s, when I'd come home and, nearly every day, have an afternoon Braves game to watch while I did homework. I lived in California, and at the time TBS was the official Braves station, playing nearly all their games. Since they were in Atlanta, and I was in California, most of the games started between 4-4:30. And I remember watching hundreds of games over the years, and over that time Atlanta became my team. Specifically four players became my favorites, pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, and the Braves' anchor, Chipper Jones. Jones played for 19 major league seasons, all with the Braves, and he was a rock in t...

Sometimes the analysts just blow it. And if you don’t have a gut feeling to go against them, you can’t catch the wave. Last week was one of those weeks. Den of Thieves had moderate projections across the board and was listed at just $94 FML Bucks. The Most Popular Cineplex was Jumanji , Den of Thieves x7. And when Den of Thieves soared to $15.2 million opening weekend, that produced a Perfect Cineplex that grabbed $144 million. I, however, wasn’t bullish on Den of Thieves . Instead, it seemed to me that Insidious had a shot at being a great value with its price. I went Jumanji x2, Insidious x5, and Pitch Perfect 3 . If you took out Den of Thieves , Insidious was the Best Value. My instincts on that film, based on projection and Box Office, were correct. My instincts overall were flawed. Let’s just say I need to do better. This week brings five new additions to the game, but really three new films. And for the first time in a month, Jumanji is predicted to get knocked ...

Here's a look at the new movie I saw this week. Forever My Girl Starring: Alex Roe, Jessica Rothe, John Benjamin Hickey, and Abby Ryder Fortson Synopsis: Grief can manifest in fascinating ways, even years after the original event. That's one of the ideas tackled in "Forever My Girl," a new romance drama that opened on January 19. This month has seen a number of films competing for Academy Awards finally getting a wide release, and a number of action and horror films with mass appeal. But "Forever My Girl" is a sweet little film about a boy, a girl, and their long road to happiness. It provides a bit of nice counter-programming to much of what's currently in theaters. The film is based on the novel from Heidi McLaughlin, and focuses on Liam Page (Roe). He's one of the biggest stars in country music, but he's not happy. In fact, he's lost. And when he catches news footage that his best friend from growing up has died, Liam bails on his l...

We're in the midst of January, and the flood of new shows is strong. This week alone there were eight new debuts, with more new coming starting tonight. As always, in these weekly posts I review the pilot and second episode of new scripted series this winter. Don't see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks. Monday Nights: The Alienist, Mondays at 9 p.m. on TNT (Premiered January 22) About: This is the latest drama for TNT, set in 1896 and focused on a serial killer and those who hunt him. It's based on the 1994 novel by Caleb Carr of the same name, and it's a project that's been in development for quite a long time. Now it's finally out, but the marketplace is much different in 2018 than it was in 1994. In fact, quite a number of these kind of stories have been told, and as produced for TNT, it doesn't have some of the upper tier production values, either. The film centers on Dr. Lazlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl), an Alienist (the term at the time ...

The nominees for the 90th Academy Awards were announced this morning. For those who didn't watch the LiveStream at 5:22 a.m. Pacific Time, you can find the full list of nominees online. Over the coming weeks until the ceremony (Sunday, March 4 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time), we'll have plenty of time to break down the races and analyze the categories. But today, it's time to consider who did not make the final cut because they were overlooked and to celebrate some of those that did make the final cut. Surprises: * Get Out dominated. While it didn't make a ton of headway at the Golden Globes (beyond an odd Musical/Comedy nod), the film was a big winner, as was writer/director Jordan Peele. Peele was overlooked at the Globes, but earned both a directing and screenplay nomination. I didn't love the film, but I appreciate the craft and the expansion of these awards to include a new generation and new style. * Logan, Best Adapted Screenplay. This was a powerful film ...

Well, we have our match up set for Super Bowl LII. The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles will meet in Minnesota on February 4, a re-match of the famous game where Tom Brady and Bill Belichick bested Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid. This time many of the players are different, but fans are hyped for the match up. And, of course, it's the two No. 1 seeds in the Super Bowl. That shouldn't be a surprise, but it is. Some might have predicted that outcome, but many did not. (In fact, the NFL accidentally released a promo for the Super Bowl over the weekend featuring the Patriots and Vikings.) But that's the match up we have, and we'll have plenty of time to dissect that over the next two weeks. (You have to feel bad for the pre-game team trying to find fresh stories on the Patriots to fill 12 hours of hype on game day...) But for now, let's consider how we got there by looking back at yesterday's games. AFC Championship: Not to toot my own horn, but I...

We have reached another Championship Weekend as the final four teams standing are on the cusp of playing for a Super Bowl title. Those four are the New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings. Now, I imagine if I’d told you that in August, you would have laughed. Probably not at the New England prediction, because they are a team with 19 players on their roster who have never known a season that didn’t include an AFC Championship Game. But the other three — they weren’t on the Super Bowl radar in a meaningful way in most cities in August. In fact, this probably wasn’t the final four most people picked this time last week. I know I didn’t. And if you have been reading my picks column, you know I didn’t either. Like many, I got swept up in Falcons Fever (they were three point favorites in Philadelphia), forgetting that the Eagles were a great team all season. But I figured that game could go either way. But who would have figured that the ...

"The world is different, Mulder. When Scully started, it was just us. Dark forces in the U.S. government, there was barely a Russia. Now there's 17 U.S. intelligence agencies. Homeland Security, Russian FSB, Chinese MSS, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Blackwater. Private companies launch to the Space Station, and all of them are in bed with one another, while trying to exterminate each other, and that includes each of us." - Walter Skinner, "The X-Files" One of the first shows to premier in 2018 is one of the oldest, "The X-Files," which debuted its 11th season (or second season depending on who you ask) on January 3. We've now seen three episodes out of a 10 episode run that could be, maybe, kind of, sort of, the last run of the show. And they've not come without flaws, many of which have been noted by critics. A part of that stems from the fact the show debuted in 1993, now 25 years ago, and ran for nine seasons, telling more than 200 episodes worth ...

Yet again, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was not only the top film at the Box Office, it was so far out in front it became a great value. But not the Best Value. That belonged to The Greatest Showman , which like Jumanji , just keeps getting stronger the longer it’s in release. The Perfect Cineplex was Greatest Showman x7, Pitch Perfect 3 , which brought in $139.5 million over the holiday. The Most Popular Cineplex featured The Commuter x6, Pitch Perfect 3 x2, and it netted $109 million thanks to the fact that Liam Neeson proved he’s stronger at the Box Office than projections gave him credit for being. My gamble —  Star Wars x6, Pitch Perfect 3 x2 — wound up with $102.4 million because Star Wars just hasn’t shown the staying power we expected. What did prove to be true was that the glut of new releases weren’t good bets. Paddington 2 and Proud Mary under performed all projections, and The Post was fine, but not spectacular. So if you banked on those, it was tough...

Here's a look at the new movies I saw this week. I, Tonya Starring: Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson, and Sebastian Stan Synopsis: Anyone of a certain age remembers a few things when they hear the name Tonya Harding. I was only 12 at the time when Nancy Kerrigan was attacked in the days leading up to the Winter Olympics. But I remember the news footage and that Harding was involved and became something of a pariah. What I didn't remember, was that Harding, at one point, was a skating superstar. That's one of many interesting things in "I, Tonya," a sort of biopic based on interviews with Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly. The thing is, they remember the events of that time quite differently. And "I, Tonya" tries to account for that, too. Director Craig Gillespie, working off a script from Steven Rogers that was based on interviews, tries to balance those disparate accounts. The result is a film that includes present-day inter...