Stop Frame

Did you ever read something and then, some time later, wished you could remember when and where so you could give proper attribution? That's happened to me, as I recall reading the opinion that, in the years to come, just as with 1994's Shawshank Redemption , Bridge of Spies would come to be recognized as the best film of 2015. Despite my love for Mad Max: Fury Road , I'm beginning to agree with that prediction. In the late 1950s, as the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union begins to become more and more frigid, Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested by the FBI. American attorney James Donovan (Tom Hanks) is assigned to represent Abel in court. Abel is found guilty of espionage and sentenced to federal prison. Shortly thereafter, an American U-2 spy plane is shot down as it attempts a long-range overflight of the Soviet Union. Its pilot, Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) is captured, tried, and found guilty of espionage. Donovan is recrui

I'm still trying to process why I like this film as much as I do. Part of me is screaming that it's my favorite of the Marvel films, handily displacing my previous champion, Guardians of the Galaxy . Meanwhile, another part is screaming that it's a fairly standard yarn, superhero or otherwise. I know, right? Confusing.   Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a gun for hire who, seemingly the day after he falls hopelessly in love, discovers he hasn't very long to live. The creepiest salesman on Earth (Jed Rees) convinces him to undergo a covert operation that will cure him while bringing out his innermost mutant. Naturally, creepy salesman has ulterior motives. NSFW language and violence ensues.   On the big screen, Deadpool first showed up in one of those standalone Wolverine films. The film was terrible, Deadpool was terrible, with Reynolds doing the best he could with a horrible part. The fans howled and Reynolds, a serious fan of Deadpool, vowed revenge. Thus, Dead

My favorite film composer of all time is Jerry Goldsmith. His music was always inventive, often challenging, and thoroughly engaging. It's a shame the Academy so seldom recognized his work, so let's discuss someone who the Academy has recognized and delivered a bevy of Oscars to, John Williams. Williams' career is somewhat contemporaneous to Goldsmith's. Both started in television. That's where I first heard Williams' music, for Irwin Allen's Lost in Space . This relationship with Allen would lead to Williams composing the music for Allen's two greatest disaster films, The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno . Williams became the master of the disaster suite. His music always struck me as almost startlingly different from other composers. Goldsmith could shock you with an inventive use of one instrument or another, but Williams would seduce you with lush melodies and rich harmonies. Listen to the track "Planting the Charges" from T