By Douglas Gruehl
I started at age 5 with a HUGE hating of the movie Fantasia and from then on went on to critique everything I saw - I was always wondering what the hype was about Gone WithThe Wind and Wizard of Oz and especially Citizen Kane. Was enthralled with Saratoga, It Happened One Night, and Sunset Boulevard. And here I am now!
8 articles published
Celebrity, Media, Movie critic
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery?” More Like an III-Fated Whodunnit Without the Who!
I understand what Rian Johnson was trying to do and that was try my patience for caring! First, don’t start the movie by creeping me out with a Zoom call featuring the late Angela Landsbury and the later Stephen Sondheim. I know the film was in the can before their demise but really? The film […]
Celebrity, Media, Movie critic
Putting the Oscars on Notice!
Notice to The Academy Awards nominating committee, and this is my final notice, LOL. You need not proceed with any nominations for Cinematography, Production Design, and Editing. Those will most certainly be awarded to Damien Chazelle’s “Sodom and Gomorrah.” Oops, I mean “Babylon” the penultimate cinematic Bacchanalia. The movie provides a 3+ hour (the time […]
“George and Tammy” movie review
OK y’all, time for a little bit of Texas two-step. Go Stand By Your Man or your German Shepherd or perhaps your local dive bar! It doesn’t really matter. Just put on your shit kickers with your spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle and sit back and enjoy the Showtimes mini-series “George and Tammy”. You don’t […]
Celebrity, Culture, Media, Movie critic
“Spirited” movie review
Sean Anders directed “Spirited” is absolutely the new “Go-To” Holiday Season/Christmas movie. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell (who I absolutely loathed in the movie Elf – talk about chewing the scenery) and, the always wonderful Octavia Spencer. A full-blown, over-the-top (I mean this as a huge compliment) musical version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” […]
Celebrity, Culture, Media, Movie critic
“The People We Hate at the Wedding” movie review
“The People We Hate at the Wedding” introduces us to a new genre of movie, “The Raunch-Com”! And I for one am a huge fan. Not just because it stars Allison Janney, Kristen Bell and Ben Platt but because it is so over-the-top funny, raunchy (delightful use of the F-bomb and adult scenes) and poignant […]
Celebrity, Culture, Movie critic
“The Fabelmans” movie review
Fasten your seatbelts as here we go with my review of “The Fabelmans”, Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical paean (some like the word homage better) to his adolescence and family. I so wanted to love this film, but alas, I came away only liking it at a 3 out of 5 stars level. Michelle Williams as Mitzi […]
SO NOT a Ticket to Paradise!
Well there you have it, it is SO NOT a Ticket to Paradise! As much as I would have liked to like/love/been enthralled by this Clooney and Roberts Rom-Com, it fell short on almost every level. Their characters were, IMHO, very shallow versions of those in their “Oceans” movies which were much more entertaining and […]