November Surprise.

 


-JJB

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A Screening of Cocaine Bear at Alamo Drafthouse!

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  On Sunday, February 26th, my wife indulged my fondest wish for the beginning of the moviegoing year.   We went to see the much ballyhooed Cocaine Bear . Now I have seen two films this year prior to Cocaine Bear.   There was the three hour epic Avatar: The Way of Water .   I went into the theater for that film with great trepidation.   I had had my fill of three hour epics since Avengers: End Game and wanted no more of it.   However, I had been surprised by how well James Cameron mapped out the flora, fauna, astronomy, and culture of the various tribes of Na’vi of the moon of Pandora.   It is a lower tier Middle Earth, but it had me ask questions of the clash of cultures and how our own local astronomy helped mold our cultures and psyches. Wait, was I talking about Cocaine Bear ?   One more digression. Todd Field’s film TÁR , the tale of the rise and fall of a fictitious musical conductor played by Cate Blanchett is another exploration into an e...
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My Childhood Fear of Grandma's Rocking Chair, aka, THE GOTCHA.

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What follows is an email I sent to my mother of one of my greatest childhood fears. Try not to laugh. - JJB Mom, Below is a computer illustration of my most feared childhood boogeyman:   THE GOTCHA. Grandma’s rocking chair used to scare me when I saw it at night with the lights out.  I thought it was giving me this evil grin.  Almost every night as a child, I would have a nightmare where I was in this stark environment like an abandoned playground.  Then I would see this rocking chair run from one hiding place to another.  He would say, “I’m gonna getcha… I’m gonna getcha… I’m gonna getcha…” Then, after a long, pregnant pause, he would leap out in front of me and yell… I GOTCHA!!! Next, I would see this collage of newspaper clippings and fireworks and car chases.   I would wake up  SCREAMING and startle you.  I’d say, “Mom!  It’s The Gotcha!   IT’S THE GOTCHA!!!  ” I was scared stiff of that rocking chair, aka, ...
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Dear Disney and Warner Brothers...

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  Stop making Star Wars , Marvel and DCEU films. Just STOP. I'm not the only one who used to look forward to those films with mounting eagerness in my heart. I'm sure I speak on behalf of a growing number of former fans who have become exhausted with a never ending pipeline of movies, streaming shows, animated series, "hawt toys," and other ancillary bric a brac. Some protest, "But muh Mandalorian! "  "But muh Joker! "  "But muh Wandavision! "  "But muh Peacemaker! " No.  No, no, no, NO. Not all the Baby Yoda / Grogus in the world will stop the decay of these behemoths. The antics of James Gunn and Taika Waititi are getting very old, very fast There's only so many Joker films Todd Phillips can crank out.  Joker was just refried Taxi Driver / King of Comedy if you're honest about it. For myself, I honestly thought that musicals would be the next trend in popular filmmaking, but neither In the Heights nor refried West S...
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