Frank Calvillo Archives -

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN?: BONUS EPISODE 4: AND THE NOMINEES ARE… Welcome to the fourth bonus episode of What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?, an ongoing journey through the later careers of Bette Davis & Joan Crawford. Although our travels through Bette & Joan’s post-Baby Jane years may have come to […]

ELLA MCCAY MOVIE REVIEW Writer/Director/Sitcom creating legend James L. Brooks is back with his first feature film in fifteen years with Ella McCay. Emma Mackey plays the titular role and she is a force of nature. When we meet her in the film, she’s a schoolgirl telling off her dad (Woody Harrelson) for being a […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN?: BONUS EPISODE 3: PRODUCED BY BETTE & JOAN “Must you always let that sister of yours get ahead of you?” Welcome to the third bonus episode of What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?, our ongoing journey of the later careers of Bette Davis & Joan Crawford. Although […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN?: BONUS EPISODE 2: ROM-COM QUEENS Welcome to the second bonus episode of What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?, an ongoing journey of the later careers of Bette Davis & Joan Crawford. Although our travels through Bette & Joan’s post-Baby Jane years may have come to an end, […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN?: BONUS EP 1: BETTE & JOAN GET CONTROVERSIAL Welcome to the first bonus episode of What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?, an ongoing journey through late-era Bette Davis & Joan Crawford. Although, our travels through Bette & Joan’s post-Baby Jane years may have come to an end, […]

WICKED: FOR GOOD MOVIE REVIEW The most anticipated movie of the year (by studios hoping to pay for the rest of the year’s screwups by this paying for it) is here. The celebrated musical adapted from a book which was a reimagining of the movie which was based on a book has now concluded (?) […]

NOUVELLE VAGUE MOVIE REVIEW In 1959, film critic Jean-Luc Godard set out to direct his first feature, “À bout de souffle” or Breathless as it is known in English. Following Godard’s oft quoted dictum that ‘All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun’, Breathless tells the story of a louche […]

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING SEASON 5 REVIEW After four seasons of murders in the building, you would think the titular building would be the least desirable apartment complex in all of Manhattan. Fortunately for fans of Only Murders in the Building, people are still dying to move into The Arconia, home of true crime […]

TRON:ARES MOVIE REVIEW Has it really been FIFTEEN years since Tron: Legacy? Disney has been trying to get a third Tron film up off the ground ever since Legacy with multiple stumbling blocks, including the cast of that film being unwilling to return for a third. So of course they go to everyone’s favorite leading […]

ANEMONE MOVIE REVIEW Nepotism is alive and well! Daniel Day-Lewis has come out of retirement to co-write and star in his son’s (Ronan Day-Lewis) feature film debut with Anemone. The film follows Jem Stoker (Sean Bean) as he travels far and wide to find his estranged brother Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis) who’s become a hermit over […]

DEAD OF WINTER MOVIE REVIEW Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said “Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak”. Had he ever been to Minnesota during ice fishing season? Dead of Winter is the story of Barb’s (Emma Thompson) solo pilgrimage through northern Minnesota. It’s an annual trip she used to take with her husband […]

HEART/FELT – AN INNOCENT MEETING THE WORLD: THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER In this episode of Heart/Felt, I’m joined by writer and podcaster Frank Calvillo to talk all things The Great Muppet Caper, Jim Henson’s dazzling and chaotic follow-up to The Muppet Movie. We dig into its playful tone, inventive visuals, and how it captures the […]

A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY MOVIE REVIEW Welcome to yet another review where Chris is absolutely correct in his opinion and Wright is not (editor: I think you got that backwards). A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is a trip into magical realism on a path well, and much better, trod by films such as Eternal […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN – TROG & THE CARETAKERS “An opportunity to lift the veil from the past.” Our exploration through late-era Bette Davis & Joan Crawford comes to a close this week as we say goodbye to the latter with a look at two final offerings from the beloved legend, including […]

MY MOTHER’S WEDDING MOVIE REVIEW Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today not to exchange vows, but to talk about Kristin Scott Thomas’s directorial debut, My Mother’s Wedding. Three daughters return home for the wedding of their twice-widowed mother, Diana—and with them comes more baggage than could ever fit in the bridal registry. All three […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN – EP.11 – WICKED STEPMOTHER & THE WHALES OF AUGUST “Memories last forever.” As our journey with these two legendary leading ladies comes to a close, we look at Bette Davis’ final movie performances, the infamous dark comedy Wicked Stepmother, which was haphazardly completed despite her walking out […]

FREAKIER FRIDAY MOVIE REVIEW If you want a seriously freaky friday this weekend, you should probably go see Weapons. But, if you’re looking for a retread of the 2003 film with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan only now with more folks switching bodies, well, there’s Freakier Friday. Anna (Lohan) is now a music producer […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN – EP 10 – SPECIAL GUEST STARS “You don’t trust women very much, do you?” Welcome to another episode of What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?, our ongoing journey through late-era Bette Davis & Joan Crawford. As we near the end of our exploration, I thought we’d […]

SAINT CLARE MOVIE REVIEW You know what they say about walking home alone at night, especially if you are a promising young woman. Always have a buddy. What if a buddy would just get in the way of your calling; a calling by God to take down all the sexual deviants and pathetic men that […]

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS MOVIE REVIEW In what seems to be fantasy wish fulfillment for fans who’ve been saying what they ACTUALLY want from a Fantastic Four movie, the MCU finally gets into the game with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Set on a parallel retro-futuristic Earth (don’t expect any ties to the current […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN? EP.9 – NIGHT GALLERY & SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY “It occurs to me I’ve never seen your face.” In this episode, I’m joined by the hosts of Televised: The TV Movie Story as Bette & Joan make their TV horror debuts. In 1969’s Night Gallery, Joan plays what screenwriter […]

SUPERMAN MOVIE REVIEW Most audiences no longer have a problem ‘believing a man can fly’ in movies. Now the challenge is, ‘believing anyone can make a Superman movie that brings us even half of the quality of the original Christopher Reeve film’. There certainly seems to be a lot of confidence, both at DC/Warner Brothers […]

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BETTE & JOAN? EP.8 – THE KARATE KILLERS AND MADAME SIN “How would you like your submarine, gentlemen?” Welcome to another episode of What Ever Happened to Bette & Joan?, our ongoing journey through late-era Bette Davis & Joan Crawford. This week, we watch the two divas become a pair of […]

F1 MOVIE REVIEW In this day and age of trademarked products being made into gigantic Hollywood films, it’s at least a little surprising that Formula 1 Racing took this long to get into the act. At least since 2013’s Rush anyway, but never quite so proudly branded as F1 (and to a great deal, paid […]

DOGMA 25TH ANNIVERSARY MOVIE REVIEW Jesus was beaten, bled, died for your sins and if ye so believe in him thou will be saved. Guilt, shame, and discipline are the blessings on the path to righteousness. These doctrines served the purpose of frightening kids and adults into attempting a life of virtue for years to […]