Author: Shane Vassar

Never Rarely Sometimes Always: One of The Best Films of 2020 So Far Is Now Available To Stream At Home – Review

Eliza Hittman's newest film, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, garnered a lot of praise at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Because of that praise, anticipation grew ahead of the film's scheduled March 13th release date. Unfortunately, the film's run in theaters was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic's effect on cinemas around the world. As of today however, … Continue reading Never Rarely Sometimes Always: One of The Best Films of 2020 So Far Is Now Available To Stream At Home – Review →

The Top 10 Bo Burnham Songs

10. "Kill Yourself" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltn2CmCGJZg Bo's parody of pseudo-inspirational pop music, "Kill Yourself," is one of the most memorable songs from his 2016 Netflix special, Make Happy. A lot of Bo's comedy is born out of the idea that celebrities, and the media industry at large, are manipulating their audiences. "Kill Yourself" is such an effective … Continue reading The Top 10 Bo Burnham Songs →

Star Wars – Ranked

Star Wars is the most iconic franchise in the history of film. Everyone has seen these movies, and more importantly for this blog, everyone has their own rankings of the films. I am consistently impressed by just how long this franchise has been able to remain relevant and captivate generation after generation. George Lucas released … Continue reading Star Wars – Ranked →

We’re All Dumb, So Let’s Just Be Quiet For Like Five Minutes – My Take

You should never speak publicly on matters in which you are uninformed. Before I start this, I think it is important that I clarify what I mean when I say, "We're all dumb." By no means I am saying that we're all morons or anything like that. I think what I'm really trying to say can … Continue reading We’re All Dumb, So Let’s Just Be Quiet For Like Five Minutes – My Take →

Sofia Coppola – Ranked

Since her first film, The Virgin Suicides, debuted theatrically in the United States in 2000, Sofia Coppola has been one of the most interesting American filmmakers of the last 20 years. The daughter of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola has created some of the most stylistic and compelling films of the 21st century. Her catalogue of … Continue reading Sofia Coppola – Ranked →

Filling Out My The Office March Madness Bracket

Corona Quarantine 2020 allowed me to put way too much thought and time into this. We may have no March Madness brackets, but today in honor of the 15th anniversary of the show, the twitter account for The Office released a bracket consisting of 32 of the series' greatest episodes. In my previous blog I listed … Continue reading Filling Out My The Office March Madness Bracket →

Self-Quarantine Season: 64 of the Best Action, Comedy, Drama, Sports, Stand-Up, and Superhero Films Available to Stream on Netflix Right Now

It's time to self-quarantine and social distance, which means it's also time to watch films. The problem with that is, anyone who has spent 40 minutes scrolling through Netflix just to end up putting on an episode of a TV show they've already seen before, knows that it can be very hard to decide on … Continue reading Self-Quarantine Season: 64 of the Best Action, Comedy, Drama, Sports, Stand-Up, and Superhero Films Available to Stream on Netflix Right Now →

Wes Anderson – Ranked

"I like to do things that are a little surrealistic but with characters who are real. So that, even if things are a little unusual, the emotions will come through anyway." - Wes Anderson Surreal and unusual are two words that can be used to accurately describe Wes Anderson's films but the reason I really appreciate … Continue reading Wes Anderson – Ranked →

10 Common Things In Society That Should Have Improved By Now But Haven’t For Some Reason

I'm often agitated, I'm frequently bothered, I'm usually confused. There are a lot of things I don't like or understand. This is a list of those things. I believe there are a lot of things in society that we, as the human race, could improve on. I'm not talking about war, genocide, racism, poverty, or … Continue reading 10 Common Things In Society That Should Have Improved By Now But Haven’t For Some Reason →

Portrait of a Lady on Fire Is 2019’s Hidden Masterpiece – Review

I've heard a lot about Céline Sciamma's fourth feature film, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, over the course of the past few months. It became a favorite of many film critics once the film started playing on the festival circuit. It even won the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes film festival back in … Continue reading Portrait of a Lady on Fire Is 2019’s Hidden Masterpiece – Review →

The Top 15 Beers in Your Life* (*Written By a 23 Year Old)

I love beer. There's no doubt that it's a versatile beverage. You can never really go wrong with a beer. That being said, there are certain situations where that can, pint-glass, or bottle just tastes better. That's why I decided to make this list. This isn't a list of brands of beer, or types of … Continue reading The Top 15 Beers in Your Life* (*Written By a 23 Year Old) →

Cameron Crowe – Ranked

Cameron Crowe is one of the more interesting filmmakers of the last 30 years. He has made some beloved films, but one cannot write about the career of Crowe without acknowledging the incredible peaks and valleys that exist within his filmography — as well as the fact that he hasn't really made a great movie in … Continue reading Cameron Crowe – Ranked →

I’m Ready To Get My Heart Broken Again: The Mets Offseason and Yoenis Cespedes Won’t Speak To Anyone

The New York Mets. The most destructive, problematic, and toxic relationship I've ever been a part of. While this offseason has been a shitshow for the sport of baseball in general, it has been quite the interesting offseason for Mets fans as well. We had to watch out crosstown rival sign Gerrit Cole. We had … Continue reading I’m Ready To Get My Heart Broken Again: The Mets Offseason and Yoenis Cespedes Won’t Speak To Anyone →

Dear Over-Planners: You Suck and Everyone Hates You – My Take

Many of the most memorable nights of my life were nights that were unplanned, nights that diverged from their original plan, or nights that were loosely planned the day-of. There's a beauty in that sort of spontaneity. Now, I know what you're thinking, I sound like a girl on hinge whose profile reads, "I just … Continue reading Dear Over-Planners: You Suck and Everyone Hates You – My Take →

Downhill: Frequently Entertaining, Ultimately Underwhelming – Review

The writing, directing team of Nat Faxon and Jim Rash are the minds behind one of my favorite films of 2013, The Way Way Back. Finally, after seven years, they have released their second film, a remake of the french film Force Majeure entitled Downhill. The excellent way they blended comedy and drama in their 2013 debut greatly … Continue reading Downhill: Frequently Entertaining, Ultimately Underwhelming – Review →

Why Birds of Prey Struggled at the Box Office, and An Examination of the Current State of DC Films

So, Birds of Prey has been available to the public for only four days, and already has a new title. The film's original title, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), was changed after a disappointing opening weekend at the box office. The film is now called Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. Like I … Continue reading Why Birds of Prey Struggled at the Box Office, and An Examination of the Current State of DC Films →

BREAKFAST (And A Small Existential Crisis About Becoming An Adult) – My Take

There are two types of people in the world: People who eat breakfast everyday, and people like myself who have not figured out how to be an adult yet. Yup, this is going to be an entire blog about breakfast. I'm oddly fascinated by people who manage to eat breakfast every single day. As a … Continue reading BREAKFAST (And A Small Existential Crisis About Becoming An Adult) – My Take →

Wait, What?: 2020 Oscar’s Instant Reactions and Quick Thoughts

(Opening #1: I went 17 for 21, Good Job Shane) (Opening #2: We Had To Watch The Grammys For The Academy To Finally Reward The Right Movie.) The Real Opening: We Love Bong Joon-Ho. Best Picture Reaction: I wrote in my Oscar's prediction blog, "I’m curious to see if the Academy goes in a bold new direction … Continue reading Wait, What?: 2020 Oscar’s Instant Reactions and Quick Thoughts →

2020 Academy Awards: Predictions and Picks

Well, it's finally that time. The 92nd Oscar's take place this Sunday night. This feel like one of the most predictable Oscar years in recent memory. The four acting categories seem to have been decided over a month ago, and there are clear frontrunners for Best Picture and Best Director as well. Not too many … Continue reading 2020 Academy Awards: Predictions and Picks →

Celebrating The Films of 2019 With Awards That Don’t Exist at The Oscar’s

The Oscar's are only a few days, but I decided to give out some of my own awards before then. As we all know, the Oscar's can only nominate so many films each year, and they tend to omit many films, filmmakers, and actors that deserve recognition and celebration. So, I have decided to create … Continue reading Celebrating The Films of 2019 With Awards That Don’t Exist at The Oscar’s →

Explaining and Analyzing The Confusing Way The Academy Chooses Best Picture

The Academy has a very convoluted way of selecting the Best Picture winner, and it's all Batman's fault. Allow me to explain. When the Academy revealed their Oscar nominations in 2009, they were met with great pushback because Christopher Nolan's acclaimed film The Dark Knight did not receive a Best Picture nomination. This caused the … Continue reading Explaining and Analyzing The Confusing Way The Academy Chooses Best Picture →