By Jason Pyles

*This column was originally printed in the February 2019 edition of The BP Times newspaper.

Feb. 24 is the 91st Academy Awards ceremony (aka “Oscar Sunday”), when the film industry awards its winners with the most prestigious honor in the business. Here’s a quick overview of the “Best Picture” nominees to help with your Oscar ballot.

A Star Is Born – Co-writer and director Bradley Cooper stars alongside Lady Gaga in a tale about a famous musician who falls in love with an unknown singer and helps to launch her career. Excellent performances. Stirring but melancholy.

BlacKkKlansman – A wild Spike Lee film that’s based on actual events, this Crime Comedy Biopic is about two police officers — one who’s African American and the other Jewish — as they somehow infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan! It stars John David Washington (Denzel’s son). Continue reading →

By Jason Pyles

*This column was originally printed in the December 2018 edition of The BP Times newspaper.

Drama is conflict. If you examine any engaging story with a protagonist that you’re rooting for, you will discover that your lead character is probably beset with conflict.

For this month’s column, I have two movie recommendations that you can stream right now on Amazon. Each movie has a protagonist whose plight elicits sympathy, due to having to face overwhelming conflict.

Eighth Grade (2018) – Do you remember middle school, or have you tried to block that experience from your memory? Many people consider middle school a brutal period in their lives. That’s mostly the case with Elsie Fisher’s character, Kayla, in Bo Burnham’s wince-inducing “Eighth Grade.” This film captures and painfully depicts the awkwardness and insecurity that Kayla feels every day at school. But remarkably, it also shows us the courage and resilience of a young person who’s trying to successfully assert herself into the social stratum. Continue reading →

By Jason Pyles

The first incarnation of this Considering the Cinema blog was launched way back in July of 2008, nearly 11 years ago. This was the first post. It began as a way for long-distance friends to keep in touch and continue to enjoy movies together.

My original partner in crime was a guy named Andy. We discussed unusual films, cinematic oddities. The site had a few great contributors whose opinions about film I respect. Believe it or not, that initial site was somewhat active for three years until July of 2011.

It was June of 2010 when I launched my first audio podcast, Considering the Sequels. We more or less took our blog and transformed it into a monthly podcast where we reviewed movie franchises.

Very long story short, that first show began a nine-year odyssey of podcasting for me. I hosted and produced several successful shows, most notably Movie Podcast Weekly and Horror Movie Podcast. Both belong to the illustrious Movie Podcast Network, which I helped to create. I also recorded a small solocast called Considering the Cinema. You can hear those four free episodes here:

MoviePodcast.Network/category/podcast/considering-the-cinema/
– Special Features 021: Considering the Themes of Batman Begins (2005)
– Considering the Cinema Ep. 003: Ephraim Katz and The Film Encyclopedia
– Considering the Cinema Ep. 002: A Very Scary Guy (Who Sleeps With the Fishes)
– Considering the Cinema Ep. 001: The Sympathetic Antagonist

Presently, at my day job, we have an in-house, company newspaper. Naturally, my film column for that monthly publication is called Considering the Cinema. Most of the blog posts that follow will be from that newspaper column, which I would note, is written for a broad, workplace audience rather than a bunch of cinephiles…

Recently, I’ve unplugged my podcasting microphone, so to speak, and I’m focusing my time and attention on other matters. But I will always love the cinema, film criticism and our community of friends and fellow cinephiles. Therefore, this humble website — my fourth incarnation of Considering the Cinema — will serve as my remaining home base for my occasional and irregular musings about film. This blog will have no set schedule, and in time, it may have a little audio podcast content, too. Nothing regular, but you’re welcome to join me.

On Twitter: @ConsiderCinema
This website: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Email: ConsideringTheCinema@gmail.com
Letterboxd: Letterboxd.com/ConsiderCinema

Thanks for checking in.

Sincerely,
Jason Pyles (aka “Jay of the Dead”)