Nevertheless, the day job work was harder, family life was harder, the balance between them both was harder. It was all wonderful, but harder. Compared to 94 published reviews on Every Movie Has a Lesson in 2020, I only published 67 this past year (with a good two dozen still in the draft folder), including my 1000th on this site in its 11th year of service. Even with a lower written output, the personal growth of it all hasn’t stopped.
Read MoreIn an annual series, Every Movie Has a Lesson is going to look back twenty years to revisit, relearn, and reexamine a year of cinema history to share favorites, lists, and experiences from the films of that year. When measuring back as far as twenty years or more, I feel like “favorites” that have stood the test of time have aged to become some level of “best.” I feel like a bunch of those populate my reflective look back at the best of 2001.
Read More10TH AND FINAL EDITION: UPDATED SEPTEMBER 11, 2021-- With the 20-year anniversary, I’m closing this column after ten years of annual updates. It’s been an fascinating pleasure and respectful honor to update and maintain this compendium for a decade. NEVER FORGET!
Read Moreby Lewis Robinson
If your family is the type that eats, sleeps, and breathes sports, you're probably always on the go. From practice to practice, game to game, sometimes it's easy to forget to slow down and enjoy a night in. Of course, just because you're sitting down with some popcorn and the TV doesn't mean you need to stop living your love of sports for the night. There are dozens of emotional films about sports that show what it is to have good sportsmanship and beat the odds. Check out some of these fun options for your next family movie night.
Read Moreby Kevin Gardner
Horror films have their roots in the silent era, but the movies didn’t gain acceptance with moviegoers until the 1930s. Whether the plots involve haunted houses, crazed killers, aliens or monsters, the world enjoys watching films that make them scared. In the last thirty years, horror has become increasingly popular, and filmmakers continue to discover new ways to make the audience jump in their seats. From 2010 to 2200, a few scary movies stand out as being exceptionally frightening and entertaining. In the following sections, you can examine four of the scariest pictures of the last decade.
Read MoreWe have all been there, we are watching that famous film and idealising over driving that plush car in it and soon had a reality check that its way over our budget. Well believe it or not but according to Moneyshake’s recent study, 8 famous film characters can’t actually afford their iconic motors. Their research reveals that this cost-savvy approach simply wouldn’t work in fiction. Explore our findings below to see the 8 motor movie stars who couldn’t afford their cars. We also spoke to expert Ron Hay, President & CEO of Mod Bargains to see how much their performance mods would cost.
Read Moreby Devin Caldwell
By every measure, 2020 was a challenging year, from the COVID-19 pandemic to extreme weather and wild politics. The new year, luckily, provides everyone with a fresh start. But when many students are still learning from home, workers are spending their days in Zoom meetings and every day feels like “Groundhog Day,” how can we find inspiration to move forward? The answer? Watch a movie. Stories can inspire us and help us move forward when times are tough. For centuries, leaders have employed storytelling as a way to motivate teams. A teacher, for example, might explain to students how Albert Einstein had to fail in order to succeed.
Read MoreNothing seems to define 2020 like a long sigh and a deep breath. This past year likely makes the record books with all kinds of trivia nuggets and asterisks. Folks didn’t get to see all the movies they hoped for, but I’ve been telling people all year that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The last movie I saw in a theater was Onward on March 2nd, adding up to 304 days (and counting since) without a visit to the big screen. Sure, I miss it as a guy that used to go out 2-3 times a week, but movies can wait and so will I. After all, we’re surviving a pandemic and movies count as #firstworldproblems.
Read MoreMa Rainey’s Black Bottom, directed by George C. Wolfe and adapted from August Wilson’s stage play, dominated this year’s CIC Awards, winning seven of its nine nominations. Topmost, the Netflix original film was named the Best Studio Film in a tie with another offering from the streaming leader, Best Director winner Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom also won awards for adapted screenplay, lead actor, lead actress, ensemble cast, costume design, and makeup.
Read MorePlenty of regular everyday people make New Year’s Resolutions, but I think bigger entities, namely movie makers and movie moguls, need to make them too. Annually, including this tenth edition, I have fun taking the movie industry to task for things they need to change. I have no false internet courage to be a Twitter troll. As always, some resolutions come true while others get mentioned and reiterated every year. Boy, was this a turd of a year for the movies, eh? There’s so much to say about so little that transpired with a predominantly locked-down marketplace.
Read MoreLeading all films with an impressive nine nominations is Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom helmed by Best Director nominee George C. Wolfe and starring acting nominees Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis. Following next with seven nominations each was David Fincher’s Mank and Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, both also hailing from Netflix. In all, 45 different films are represented with nominations for the 2020 CIC Awards.
Read MoreDespite the overall crappiness of this year, 2020 has been the 10th anniversary of this website Every Movie Has a Lesson. I didn’t start this endeavor until May of 2010 and, when the end of the year rolled around, I didn’t have a complete “sample size” or body of work, so to speak, to write a proper “10 Best” list. Missing that chance has always bothered the completist in me. I’ve been meaning to fix that and this little anniversary seemed like the right time, especially after charting a “best of the decade” list a year ago at the close of the 10s. So, turning back the clock a decade, here are my “10 Best Films of 2010.”
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