Screen Speak

Hello! Welcome to the 1st episode of Screen Speak in 2022! In this episode, I am taking a detour from talking about one individual movie, and am instead talking about my ENTIRE MOVIE COLLECTION. I am (and always have been) an advocate of physical media. I love listening to movie enthusiasts talk about their collections so I figured, "Hey, why don't I do that too?". Part II and III will be coming i...

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra It is based on the short story and booklet The Greatest Gift, which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loosely based on the 1843 Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol. Featuring special guest Kimberly Harford

The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. Freedom fighters Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation. In their quest to...

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. It depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality, the Matrix, which intelligent machines have created to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source....

The Lighthouse is a 2019 film directed and produced by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother, Max Eggers. Set in the 1890s, it stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lighthouse keepers who descend into madness when a storm strands them on the remote island where they are stationed. Featuring special guest Adam Wall

1917 is a 2019 British war film directed and produced by Sam Mendes, who co-wrote the film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Partially inspired by stories told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred about his service during World War I, the film takes place after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich, and follows two British soldiers, Will Schofield (George Mackay) and...

Shoot 'Em Up is a 2007 American action film written and directed by Michael Davis. It stars Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci, and Stephen McHattie. After saving a newborn infant from assassins, carrot-crunching gunman Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) teams up with a prostitute named DQ (Monica Bellucci) to protect the baby from further attacks. With hit man Hertz (Paul Giamatti) hot on their trail...

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a 1987 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Steve Martin as Neal Page, a high-strung marketing executive, and John Candy as Del Griffith, a goodhearted but annoying shower curtain ring salesman. They share a three-day odyssey of misadventures trying to get Neal home to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving with his family. Featu...

Old is a 2021 American thriller film written, directed, and produced by M. Night Shyamalan. It is based on the French-language Swiss graphic novel Sandcastle by Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin Mckenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Em...

On the Rocks is a 2020 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Sophia Coppola. It follows a father and daughter (Bill Murray and Rashida Jones) as they harbor suspicions about her husband's (Marlon Wayne's) fidelity.

V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian political superhero action film directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay by The Wachowski's. It is based on the 1988 DC Comics limited series by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. The film is set in an alternative future where a fascist totalitarian regime has subjugated the United Kingdom. It centers on V (portrayed by Hugo Weaving), an anarchist and masked freedom...

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a 2013 American adventure comedy-drama film directed, co-produced by and starring Ben Stiller and written by Steve Conrad. The film also stars Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, and Sean Penn. Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller), an employee at Life magazine, spends day after monotonous day developing photos for the publication. To escape the tedium...

Doctor Sleep is a 2019 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Mike Flanagan. It is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Stephen King which is a sequel to King's 1977 novel The Shining. Struggling with alcoholism, Dan Torrance remains traumatized by the sinister events that occurred at the Overlook Hotel when he was a child. His hope for a peaceful existence soon becomes s...

The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written with novelist Diane Johnson. The film is based on Stephen King's 1977 novel of the same name and stars Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd. Featuring special guest Adam Wall and Sophia Haan

Army of Darkness is a 1993 American Comedy-Horror epic film directed, co-written and co-edited by Sam Raimi. Starring Bruce Campbell and Embeth Davidtz, it is the third installment in the Evil Dead franchise, and a sequel to Evil Dead II, and follows Ash Williams (Campbell) as he is trapped in the Middle Ages and battles the undead in his quest to return to the present.

Jacob's Ladder is a 1990 American psychological horror film directed by Adrian Lyne, produced by Alan Marshall, written by Bruce Joel Rubin, and starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, and Danny Aiello. After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and p...

The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American supernatural psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient (Haley Joel Osment) can talk to the dead. Featuring special guest Glenn Kieler

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 American supernatural horror legal drama film directed by Scott Derrikson and starring Laura Linney and Tom Wilkinson. The Rev. Moore (Tom Wilkinson) is prosecuted for the wrongful death of a girl thought to be demonically possessed, because he administered the church-sanctioned exorcism that ultimately killed her. Prosecuting attorney Ethan Thomas (Campbell Sc...

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is a 1966 American comedy horror film starring Don Knotts as Luther Heggs, the town dunce and a newspaper typesetter who spends a night in a haunted house, which is located in the fictitious community of Rachel, Kansas. Featuring special guest Lynda Ficken

Signs is a 2002 American science fiction mystery thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and produced by Shyamalan. Its story focuses on a former priest named Graham Hess, played by Mel Gibson, who discovers a series of crop circles in his cornfield. Hess slowly discovers that the phenomenon is a result of extraterrestrial life. It also stars Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, and Abig...

Swiss Army Man is a 2016 American surreal comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and starring Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Being stranded on a deserted island leaves young Hank (Paul Dano) bored, lonely and without hope. As a rope hangs around his neck, Hank prepares to end it all, until he suddenly spots a man (Daniel Radcliffe) lay...

Napoleon Dynamite is a 2004 American comedy film written by Jared and Jerusha Hess and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Jon Heder in the role of the title character, a high-school student who deals with several dilemmas: befriending an immigrant who wants to be class president, awkwardly pursuing a romance with a fellow student, and living with his quirky family.

Gattaca is a 1997 American dystopian science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol in his filmmaking debut. It stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, with Jude Law, Loren Dean, Ernest Borgine, Gore Vidal, and Alan Arkin appearing in supporting roles. Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) has always fantasized about traveling into outer space, but is grounded by his status as a genetically inferio...

Bone Tomahawk is a 2015 American Western Horror film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler. It stars Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, and Richard Jenkins. In the Old West, a sheriff (Kurt Russell), his deputy (Richard Jenkins), a gunslinger (Matthew Fox),and a cowboy (Patrick Wilson) embark on a mission to rescue three people from a savage group of cave dwellers.

Into the Blue is a 2005 American action-thriller film starring Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Scott Caan, Ashley Scott, and Josh Brolin. The film was directed by John Stockwell. Divers Sam (Jessica Alba) and Jared (Paul Walker) love life in the Bahamas. But when friends Bryce (Scott Caan) and Amanda (Ashley Scott) visit, the couple take them on a treasure-hunting trip, where they discover more than th...