Jose's Top 10 Films of 2018 With every passing year I find myself getting more and more cynical about the state of modern cinema. But somehow by year’s end, every year, I recollect that I still have found a way to have plenty of fun at the movies and discover a handful of flicks that renew my faith. 2018 was no different with plenty of surprises and burgeoning fads. The biggest and most welcome trend I see is the plethora of working and talented African-American filmmakers. S

While we’re all used to the traditional Christmas covers by the Josh Grobans of the world, hip hop artists have cultivated a fairly robust catalog of their own seasonal sounds. Many of us are probably familiar with DMX’s unparalleled rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” or maybe for the older crowd you’re partial to Run D.M.C’s “Christmas in Hollis,” but hip hop artists of all subgenres have been rapping their Christmas tidings for decades. Christmas may have come a

Title: Aquaman (2018) Genre: Superhero/Sci Fi/Action Director: James Wan Stars: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe Bias: This is the third outing as Aquaman by Jason Momoa (the second with dialogue) and I still don’t understand, or especially like, whatever it is he’s doing. Grade: C- In A Nutshell: Arthur Curry/Aquaman is the son of an Atlantean queen and a surface-dwelling father. Caught between these two worlds, he’

The career of director Bob Clark was eclectic, to say the least. Best known for the enduring holiday classic A Christmas Story, his resume also included the high school sex romp Porky’s, the infamously dreadful Rhinestone and the truly awful Loose Cannons. Before his switch to comedies he got his promising start with horror flicks like Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things and Dead of Night. But it was 1974’s Black Christmas that put him on the map. I only became aware of

We’re all familiar with the classic feel-good holiday specials that get everyone into the spirit around this time of year - A Charlie Brown Christmas, Frosty The Snowman, et cetera. While it’s perfectly delightful to gather around with family and watch that sort of thing, the Christmas-themed content I’ve enjoyed this December is far less wholesome and far more entertaining. With that said, here’s a review of my favorite not-so-family-friendly Christmas specials. The Sopranos

Every year, starting in early December, I begin my annual Christmas movie and TV marathon. I spend the month rewatching old holiday classics, as I have time and in no particular order. This tradition is pretty loosely structured and has changed a bit from year to year, but it serves its purpose well - to get me excited for the holiday season, even when other things (like the end of semester slog through grading) feel overwhelming. Until now, my must-watch-by-Christmas list ha

My Christmas spirit has a brief window. It awakens a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving and goes back to sleep shortly after New Year's Day. And it's during this window that I engage in certain Christmas traditions - decorating the tree, buying and wrapping presents, drinking Egg Nog (the nectar of the Gods), and, yes, listening to Christmas music. So here, in no particular order, are the 10 songs I love to hear, and the 5 that I dread hearing every year. Merry Happy! 10) "Ha

Title: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Genre: Animated/Superhero/Sci-Fi/Action Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman Stars (primary actors): Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Bryan Tyree Henry, Hailee Steinfeld, Liev Shreiber, and Mahershala Ali Bias: I’m pretty sure they made this movie for me personally, so… Grade: A+ In A Nutshell: Miles Morales is an ordinary kid from Brooklyn who gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gains superpowers. Meanwh

The career of Kenneth Branagh has seen him rise from stage-based Shakespearean wunderkind to international film star and acclaimed director. He gained instant notoriety and multiple Oscar nominations in 1989 with his bold and visionary take on Henry V. He has recently reinvigorated his audience, as well as garnered new fans, with back-to-back box office hits in 2015’s Cinderella and 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express. But he always finds a way to return to his Shakespearean

My mother is a Christmas fanatic. She starts bumping the holiday tunes around August and it wouldn’t surprise me if she was the only middle-aged woman still doing snow day rituals. So Christmas movies are a big deal. Please enjoy some of the standout features that I’ve been forced to see every year. 10.) The Polar Express (2004) Robert Zemeckis turns Tom Hanks into a CGI abomination of a train conductor. The art style really falls into the uncanny valley for me in this flick