Author Archives: Doc

2025 Oscar Live-action and Animated Shorts

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I was able to see the five Academy Award nominated Live-action shorts and the five animated shorts today at Cinemark. I look forward to this every year, getting the chance to see these well deserving films. I was under a time constraint today thanks to the WWE Elimination Chamber, but it was able to fit nicely in.

Live-Action Shorts.

I am going to list these in order of my favorite. I will also give you which one I think will win the Oscar. Spoiler, my favorite animation short is not the one that I am predicting will win the Academy Award.

#5. The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent. From Croatia. Honestly, this was my least favorite of the films I saw today. It felt like it was doing something special, but it just seemed to end and I did not like the conclusion of the film.

#4. Anuja. India. I liked this short. The actress playing Anuja does a great job with the talented young girl, but the ending of this one was left fairly uncertain and I wanted more closure.

#3. I’m Not a Robot. Netherlands/Belgium. This sci-fi short was very clever. Started off with some good humor, but developed into an obsession. I did not know that the CAPTCHA could identify robots in other ways. This was an enjoyable short.

#2. The Last Ranger. South Africa. A remarkably powerful short film detailing poachers targeting rhino horns. There are some really emotional moments in this short and the performance by Liyabona Mroqoza is riveting. I just about put this at number one, but…

#1. A Lien. USA. Man this was a tough short to watch. A young couple and their daughter heads down to have the husband’s green card meeting and ICE is there. The emotion, the fear, the anger and frustration jumps off the screen in this short.

A Lien gets my pick as the winner for the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short.

Animated Shorts

I did enjoy the Live-Action shorts overall more than the Animated ones, but these were all pretty decent too.

#5. Wander to Wonder. Netherlands/Belgium/France. This was such a bizarre short. Wander to Wonder was a kiddie show at one point but things have become really dark. It was truly disturbing and weird.

#4. Beautiful Men. Netherlands/Belgium/France. Three brothers who were hoping to get a hair transplant surgery, have to face their problems and their insecurities. I thought this was a good short with some solid characteristic development.

#3. Magic Candies. Japan. This one felt like it was just too long. There was a scene in this film, where the young boy had some magic candy and it led to a nice moment with his father. That should have been the end, but then the short continued on. It just went too long for me. The first fifteen minutes or so were really great.

#2. Yuck!. France. This is the sweetest of the animated films as the whole thing was based around a first kiss. This was a nice animated short.

#1. In the Shadow of the Cypress. Iran. This was my favorite animated short. I loved the animation and I thought this story was the deepest. There was a lot of emotion. The father, daughter and a whale. I loved this whole thing.

However, my pick to win the Oscar is Magic Candies. I just have a feeling this is what the Academy will do. I hope In the Shadow of the Cypress wins, but I do not think it will.

Last Breath

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During this year’s Genre-ary, I watched 30 documentaries. One of them was a documentary called Last Breath, and it told the story of a deep sea diver Chris Lemons who, after an accident, was stranded underwater. Real footage from the actual event made that documentary thrilling.

But, as I was preparing to watch that doc, I realized that I had seen a trailer that had Woody Harrelson in it telling the same story. Sure enough, there was a new movie coming out with the same title, based on the true story.

According to IMDB, Last Breath was “A heart-pounding film that follows seasoned deep-sea divers as they battle the raging elements to rescue their crew mate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface. Based on a true story, LAST BREATH is an electrifying story about teamwork, resilience, and a race against time to do the impossible.“

Chris Lemons (Finn Cole), Duncan Allock (Woody Harrelson), and Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) were sent on a mission to repair a pipeline off the coast of Scotland. A terrible storm messed with the ship above the water, causing problems for the divers beneath the water. Chris’s lifeline broke, leaving him stuck in the cold, dark water.

The race against time, equipment and weather created amazing tension and anxiety. I did know the outcome of the story because I had seen the documentary, but I was still fully engaged in the story. I did wish that I hadn’t seen the documentary as I was watching the movie.

Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu had amazing performances as did all of the other actors in the film. Some of the other top performances in the film included Cliff Curtis, MyAnna Buring, Mark Bonnar, Bobby Rainsbury, and, of course, Finn Cole.

The sound editing of the film was sensational too. The shots of the ship in the storm sounded unbelievably great. The effects were tremendous and really worked well.

This is a very solid film with great performances, especially from Harrelson, and amazing technical artistry. Watch this film and then watch the Netflix documentary and you will be amazed with this sotry.

4 stars

Oscar Picks from EYG

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Here are my official Academy Award picks for the Sunday night awards. I am not seeing the short films until tomorrow so I will be skipping that pick as of now.

Best Picture 
Anora
The Brutalist 
A Complete Unknown 
Conclave
Dune: Part Two 
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance 
Wicked

Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain 
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown 
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist 
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Animated Feature Film
Flow 
Inside Out 2 
Memoir of a Snail 
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 
The Wild Robot

Documentary Feature Film
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane

International Feature Film
I’m Still Here
The Girl with the Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Flow

Directing
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet,  The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Cinematography
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Pérez
Ed Lachman, Maria
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anora 
The Brutalist  
A Real Pain   
September 5 
The Substance 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing

Film Editing
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked

Music (Original Song)
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late

Music (Original Score)
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot

Sound
A Complete Unknown 
Dune: Part Two 
Emilia Pérez
Wicked 
The Wild Robot

Production Design
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked

Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

Makeup and Hairstyling
A Different Man 
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance 
Wicked

Costume Design
Arianne Phillips, A Complete Unknown
Lisy Christl, Conclave
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman, Gladiator II
Linda Muir, Nosferatu
Paul Tazewell, Wicked

Best Animated Short
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candles
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!

Best Documentary Short
Death by Numbers
I am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Best Live-Action Short
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

I’ll pick the other two tomorrow after I see the live action and animated shorts.

Oscar Nominees

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Best Picture 
Anora
The Brutalist 
A Complete Unknown 
Conclave
Dune: Part Two 
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance 
Wicked

Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain 
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown 
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist 
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Animated Feature Film
Flow 
Inside Out 2 
Memoir of a Snail 
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 
The Wild Robot

Documentary Feature Film
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane

International Feature Film
I’m Still Here
The Girl with the Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Flow

Directing
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet,  The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Cinematography
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Pérez
Ed Lachman, Maria
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anora 
The Brutalist  
A Real Pain   
September 5 
The Substance 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing

Film Editing
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked

Music (Original Song)
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late

Music (Original Score)
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot

Sound
A Complete Unknown 
Dune: Part Two 
Emilia Pérez
Wicked 
The Wild Robot

Production Design
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked

Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

Makeup and Hairstyling
A Different Man 
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance 
Wicked

Costume Design
Arianne Phillips, A Complete Unknown
Lisy Christl, Conclave
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman, Gladiator II
Linda Muir, Nosferatu
Paul Tazewell, Wicked

Best Animated Short
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candles
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!

Best Documentary Short
Death by Numbers
I am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Best Live-Action Short
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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February 27

So, yesterday I said that the Diamond delivery had not arrived at Comic World and that I might have to do another EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week before next week. I did not expect it to be the next day. But that is where we are. I picked up nineteen books today so I think another group of medalists is on their way.

Bronze Medalist

TVA #3

Cover art by Pere Perez & GURU-eFX

Fun cover with some fun characters. Love Miss Minutes from Loki and Spider-Gwen is always great. Who’s hand is that, by the way?

Silver Medalist

Ripperland #2

Cover art by Alessandro Oliveri

Some wonderful imagery and color on this Dark Horse book. It gives that old-timey feel while still standing out among the books on the shelf.

Gold Medalist

Hello Darkness #8

Variant Cover B

Cover Art by Jenny Frison

Hello Darkness has a great cover every month. This variant cover is both awesome and kind of disturbing.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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February 26

Another condensed week this week as Diamond continues to mess with the delivery to Comic World. No Marvel and several of the independents are absent from this. It is yet to be seen if there will be another EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week this week.

Bronze Medalist

Behemoth #2

Cover art by Jay Martin

The Dark Horse book has a creepy vibe to it. Behemoth has been a cool book and this cover gives us the unexpectedness of some creature. Awesome look.

Silver Medalist

The Human Fly #3

Cover art by John Scherpenhuizen

This is a psychedelic cover with awesome colors and images of Human Fly stands out. Oh, and there is an actual fly on the cover.

Gold Medalist

Bug Wars #1

Variant Cover B

Cover art by Peach Momoko

I got this on eBay today and, since it would have placed had I got it a couple of weeks ago, I decided to include it. And a Gold Medal for Peach Momoko. This is a beautiful variant cover for a cool new series.

Elevation (2024)

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I came across this movie on MAX and, while it was listed as a 2025 film, everywhere else had it as a 2024 release. Had I know that, I could have saved this for the June Swoon, but I do think I have plenty of films available for that. I decided to list this under the “classics” instead of 2025 for that reason.

Anthony Mackie played Will, who lived with his son Hunter (Danny Boyd, Jr.) in the Rocky Mountains. Humanity has been destroyed by these creatures that suddenly just popped up from out of nowhere. Fortunately, the creatures could not go past 8,000 feet elevation.

Hunter was sick and needed certain materials that could only be found in the hospital, which meant Will had to go down the mountain to try and find more. He was accompanied by two women, Nina (Morena Baccarin) and Katie (Maddie Hasson).

I really like Anthony Mackie. He is a star and you can see how he commands the screen in a film like this. Sadly, I do not think the film matches up to the strength of Mackie’s screen presence.

The writing is, at best, passable. The story depends way too much on exposition which can become repetitive and dull. The story is full of contrivances and coincidences that really damages the plot.

Nina and Katie started out really hating one another. There was clearly conflicts between the two women, but that conflict disappeared in what seemed no time, without any true resolution. The relationship between them felt forced and had no basis in reality. I know that the film has giant sci-fi monsters running around, which is why the central relationships have to have a dose of realism if the film is to work. These three characters are lacking in that area.

This felt like a poor man’s The Last of Us, mixed with a little bit of A Quiet Place. It was just not at a level of either of those franchises. Anthony Mackie is great and he is doing everything he could to elevate this script, but there is only so much he can do.

Paradise S1 E7

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Spoilers

“The Day”

Holy $%^$

Flashback episode and WHAT A FLASHBACK episode. Man this was tense. The show finally showed us the day when everything changed. We learned what happened to the earth that sent the Americans into the plan to go inside the Colorado mountain.

And man, was it powerful.

I mean, this was something else.

Not only the flashback, but the bookend scenes with Xavier and Sinatra was absolutely jaw-dropping. I found myself hating Sinatra almost as much as I used to hate the Cigarette Smoking Man on the X-Files. I was yelling for Xavier to put a bullet in her head, just like I used to want Mulder to do to CSM.

Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden are absolutely tremendous in this episode. Both of them gave amazing, Emmy-worthy performances in this episode as they dealt with the crisis of the earth’s downfall and the President’s drastic decisions prior to entering the mountain.

The tying of the events of The Day with the Cuban Missile Crisis is a stroke of genius and amazing writing. The determination of President Bradford in his decision to set off the huge EMP instead of launching the nuclear armory from the nuclear football is stunning. Could he have save the world with his choice?

Hearing Teri’s voice at the end was shocking and made me just hate Sinatra (aka Samantha all the more).

Plus, Sinatra told Xavier that the DNA found at the President’s murder site did not match anyone from inside the mountain, meaning that the murderer came from outside. I am not sure I believe her, but it is a massive twist if true.

This was the best episode of the season so far in a show that is chocked full of amazing episodes. Such a great hour of television on Hulu (or Disney +).

The White Lotus S3 E2

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Spoilers

“The Meaning of Dreams”

I do think this episode was a slow burn. There was some interesting conversations and what felt like a lot of set up.

There was a robbery that was surprising and exciting.

I am pleased that Gary is truly Greg, from the previous two seasons. I would love to see this rat bastard get his comeuppance for his involvement in Tanya’s death from season two.

What is happening with the Ratliff family? There is a plethora of storylines stuck within this group of characters.

Rick is a mystery for me and I am intrigued by who he is.

There is a lot of humor and curiosity going on with this season.

Dark Matter S1 E8, E9

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Spoilers

“Jupiter”

“Entanglement”

I’m conflicted over the last two episodes of Dark Matter.

On one hand, I like the sort of happy ending for the characters… at least, it seemed like a happy ending.

On the other hand, I am not a fan of the League of Jasons that suddenly formed with hundreds of doppelgangers coming together. All apparently able to find their way to the same universe.

I was so confused when Jason 2 killed that first Jason right off the bat in episode eight. Then, there were Jasons coming from the woodwork. There were Jasons everywhere you turned.

The entire time, I kept wondering how we were going to know if the Jason who wound up with Daniela and Charlie was the OG Jason. I suppose they all were OG Jasons, but I mean the Jason that we have been following since the beginning of the series. Not an alternate version because Jason made a choice.

Overall, I am not a fan of how this ended. The multiple Jasons just did not do it for me. I just wanted Jason and Jason 2 to be the final conflict, but Jason 2 even helped them out at the end. That character changed his tune too much for my tastes and I just did not know what was going on.

The X-Files S8 E6

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Spoilers

“Redrum”

This was a very interesting episode of the X-Files. Actor Joe Morton was the main protagonist of the episode Martin Wells, as he was in jail, arrested for the murder of his wife, something that he did not remember. He was murdered by his father-in-law as they were transferring him to a more secure location.

After dying, he awoke and it was the day before he is killed.

The episode is told backwards for the rest of the time and Martin was trying to figure out what was happening to him.

Martin was friends with John Doggett and Doggett and Scully would make appearances throughout the episode.

I found this plot very clever and intriguing. I liked everything about the episode. I saw some criticism that Morton had too much exposition during his monologues, but that did not bother me at all.

Scully and Doggett did not appear a lot in the episode, as it was definitely focused on Martin Wells. Still, I thought the use of them was well done considering the plot that they were using.

I thought this was another good-to-great episode from season 8, which I did not expect. What I expect is that I had a poor mindset about the season when it first came out because there was no Mulder. Looking at it now, these have been much better than I remember.

Dark Matter S1 E7

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Spoilers

“In the Fires of Dead Stars”

This was a great episode that has seemingly set the show up for a huge final two episodes.

Jason finally found his way back to his universe.

Jason 2 returned Ryan from The Box after the police started looking for him. Was this a different Ryan from a different universe?

Amanda had decided to stay in a universe instead of continuing on with Jason.

Jason tried to buy a gun, after seeing Jason 2 with his family in his home.

Jason 2 came into the gun shop right after Jason left and Jason 2 discovered that Jason was there.

Jason 2 had cracked open the cement covering the Box, leaving it open for Jason make his way through.

Jason 2 had a disagreement with his therapist version of Amanda, telling her that he wants to leave.

There is so much in this episode and it feels as if the next two will be insane. Episode eight is the penultimate episode of the first season.

The White Lotus S3 E1

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Spoilers

“Same Spirits, New Forms”

I wanted to have season one and two pf The White Lotus completed before season three kicked off, but I found out that the first episode had debuted last week and I was still in season two. So this week, I made it a goal to get through season two so I could follow along with season three as a weekly show.

I did complete the second season earlier this week so today I watched the first episode of season three.

The White Lotus for this season is set in Thailand and the exteriors and the surroundings are absolutely stunning. They have always looked great, but there is something both beautiful and mysterious about the set up for this season.

The opening of the season is as dramatic as always, with gunfire breaking up a young African-American’s one-on-one meditation session. We learn that he was at The White Lotus with his mother, but we do not have any ideas whom that is. However, I did have an idea whom that MIGHT be. I knew coming in that Natasha Rothwell would be resuming her role as Belinda Lindsay from season one, and so I could assume that this was her son. Maybe I am wrong, but I am fairly certain that is the case.

I do have more of a connection to this new group of characters in the first episode than I did in the season two introduction. That’s not to say that these characters aren’t rotten jerks, because clearly they are, but I have more of a connection to these. Why? I am not sure.

Actors in this season, along with Natasha Rothwell, include Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Aimee Lou Wood, Nicholas Duvernay, Lalisa Manobal, Tayme Thapthimthong, Lek Patravadi, Christian Friedel, Shalini Peiris, and Jon Gries.

New episodes are on MAX every Sunday night at 8 PM CST.