Five of Jim Steinman’s Best Songs

Bonnie Tyler, Meat Loaf, Celine Dion in their videos for Jim Steinman Songs

We lost one of the all-time great songwriters this week in Jim Steinman. Perhaps best known for his partnership with Meat Loaf on the power vocalist’s best work, Steinman had this grand, epic scale to his songwriting that felt like a weird fusion between stage musicals and rock and roll. I know rock operas are a thing and this was a concept that had been toyed with long before Steinman, but there was just something wholly operatic about his songs. Here are my favourites.

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Nine Categories The Academy Needs to Add to the Oscars Ceremony

Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible Fallout, Courtesy Paramount Pictures

I know exactly what you’re thinking. “Why do you want to make the Oscars longer by adding categories? And also the Oscars are pointless and award shows are bullshit.” I mean… yes, you’re not wrong on the second thought, but more importantly, on the first point, because I want to recognize the great work that goes into filmmaking. And even though awards are outdated, they still serve a purpose. Also everyone likes to be recognized for a job well done. And shut up.

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New Movies Weekend of April 2nd

Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin in Concrete Cowboy, courtesy Netflix

The first big tent-pole hits theatres and streaming, and it’s the first real test of the new theatre+streaming release model. I know Raya & The Last Dragon was a big test for Disney, but it wasn’t a franchise, it was still early enough in the vaccination process that people still weren’t going to the theatres a lot. It was low risk as it wasn’t expected to put up, say Marvel or Frozen numbers. I think it would have done very well in any other year. But Godzilla vs. Kong… that’s a real test. Especially with Warner Bros. and Universal flipping to a shorter six week theatrical window soon. But we’ve got some theatrical and some streaming offerings for our viewing pleasure.

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New Movies Weekend of March 26th

Bob Odenkirk in Nobody, courtesy Universal Pictures on YouTube

It’s been a week of shake-ups in the movie release calendar, as Disney shifted they MCU back by a few months, including putting Black Widow (and non-MCU Cruella) to a joint theatrical-streaming model, and the hotly anticipated Chris Rock/Samuel L. Jackson entry into the Saw franchise, Spiral, got bumped up a week to 14 May. But as we head into the traditional Spring blockbuster season, and as HBOMax preps the first major tentpole to hit since Tenet quitely bowed last summer mid pandemic, we’ve got a few movies dropping this week worth checking out, both in theatres and on streaming.

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Thoughts on the 93rd Oscar Nominations

Rachel McAdams in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, courtesy Netflix

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the Academy Award nominations this morning. I won’t bore you with yet another list/rundown of the nominees. You don’t need me to do that for you. Here’s the link to the Oscars site and you can see them for yourself. Keep that open in a separate tab, because I’m not gonna But as a lifetime movie fan, longtime Oscars follower, and one-time Oscar attendee, I have thoughts on the nominations. And because I write about movies, here they are. Thanks for reading them.

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Weird Al’s “Bad Hair Day” is One of the Most Important Albums of the 90s

Weird Al in the videos for Amish Paradise and Gump, courtesy Al Yankovic on YouTube

Weird Al Yankovic’s 1996 album Bad Hair Day just celebrated the 25th anniversary of its release on 12 March. I was 10 when it came out, and received a cassette of it that Christmas. That album, more than any other of the era, shaped my musical interests as a kid who was just starting to discover music on my own, as opposed to just listening to what my dad put on a mix-tape for me. For what it was, what it is, Bad Hair Day deserves to be in the conversation as one of the most important albums of the 90s, and that is a hill I’m willing to die on.

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New Movies Weekend of March 5th

Coming 2 America, Courtesy Amazon and Paramount Pictures

Happy first weekend in March! As we approach the one year mark since theatres initially shut down, with big news that Alamo Drafthouse filed for bankruptcy protection (it’s just so they can restructure and stay afloat, we’re all hoping Alamo Drafthouse makes it). My vaccine goes into full effect on Monday, so I’ll start returning to my local, non-Drafthouse cinemas next week, but for now, I stick to streaming. But in addition to the online offerings, there are a few that will be waiting for me in theatres:

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