Fighting with My Family (2019)::rating::3.5::rating::3.5::rating::3.5

F ighting with My Family takes the sweaty, spandexed bravado of professional wrestling and somehow spins it into a sugary, feel-good movie. It's surprising to find out this story has some basis in fact, and even more startling that everything works as well it does. With its underdog heroine, tough-love mentor, and hissable villains, Fighting With My…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 27, 20190Comments

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Cinemavino – Episode 11: Bruce Willis Needs a Breath Mint::rating::0

F or this episode, Travis, Taylor, and I discuss a few underrated movies and actors, whilst enjoying a little underrated wine: The Beaujolais region of France features some delicious wine, made from the Gamay grape. It doesn't get nearly the attention it deserve, so we're gonna shine a light on it. This is Domaine de la…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 24, 20190Comments

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RBG (2018)::rating::4

L ate in RBG, we see a telling photograph of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor, the first two women appointed to the United States Supreme Court. They sit in an opulent chamber, pleasant and prim, surrounded by imposing sculptures and paintings of male jurists. These starchy old men, replete with bushy mustaches and flowing…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 22, 20190Comments

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2019 Oscar Picks::rating::0

"T his is the 51st Academy Awards," said that evening's host, Johnny Carson. "Two hours of sparkling entertainment spread over a four-hour show." No one has ever described cinema's biggest night with such dry, succinct brilliance. It seems every minute of glamour or grippingly candid emotion gets matched with another minute of bloated, boring…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 20, 20190Comments

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Alita: Battle Angel (2019)::rating::3.5

All the expansive world-building in Alita: Battle Angel stands as the film's greatest strength and its greatest weakness. James Cameron (co-writer/producer) and Robert Rodriguez (director) deliver a sprawling, digital landscape that boggles the mind in both its grandeur and intensive attention to every last visual detail. Story-wise, so much table-setting happens in this movie that it…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 15, 20190Comments

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Isn’t It Romantic (2019)::rating::3.5

A s I watched Isn't It Romantic, my thoughts drifted to Leonard Maltin's review of a 1948 film of the same name. Maltin set the Guinness World Record for the shortest review with just one word: "No." I may not have Maltin's gift for succinctness, but I think I could boil my opinion of this movie down…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 15, 20190Comments

The Drink Menu The Podcast

Cinemavino – Episode 10 – The Stanley Tucci Chronicles::rating::0

I t's another week, another treat as Taylor Owens joins us for a Very Special Episode of Cinemavino. For this trip aboard the Crazy Train, we discuss our favorite Valentine's Day movies and drink a little Rosê and a bottle of bubbly. Once again, our new Scooby gang veers off on a few wild tangents:…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 14, 20190Comments

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What Men Want (2019)::rating::2

W hat Men Want was built to be a spiritual successor to Mel Gibson's What Women Want, so it's not surprising when both films make many of the same mistakes. For those lucky enough to forget, What Women Want depicted a dickweed ad executive who harbored a cluelessly condescending attitude toward the women around him. The movie then imbues…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 12, 20190Comments

The Drink Menu The Podcast

Cinemavino – Episode 9: Artisanal Cottage Cheese::rating::0

For this week's episode, my good friend Taylor Owens comes aboard as we discuss our favorite "second movies." These could be standalone sequels or installments in a larger franchise, but either way, we found quite a few. Fair warning, things get pretty silly pretty quickly. To pair with our conversation, we drink Yardstick Cabernet, by Goldschmidt…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 9, 20190Comments

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Cold Pursuit (2019)::rating::2.5

S ince the dawn of Charles Bronson's days as a leading man, Hollywood has made a mint on the trope of a mumbly, barrel-chested dad with everything to lose. The people he loves get killed or maimed, transforming our hero into a squib-splattering instrument of vigilante justice. Thugs with poor hygiene get mowed down in…

ByTodd WoffordFebruary 8, 20190Comments