The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on January 8, 2019

Never have I seen a film like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The animation style is like nothing I had ever seen before. It’s so exciting and refreshing, yet hard to describe. It looks a little like the creators took inspiration from the style in A Scanner Darkly, made it a...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 26, 2018

As a parent, I understand how hard it can be to find an appropriate Halloween movie that can interest adults and give kids a mild scare. Monster House is a rare gem that delivers on just that. Back when the film was in theaters in 2006 I was still in...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 12, 2018

Ever since I was a kid there was this particular image associated with the name Hellraiser. It might come to your mind as well; a man wearing tight black clothing and all over his chalk white face in a very geometric pattern are thin needles protruding out. Like a human...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 5, 2018

From the very beginning, the filmmakers of The Conjuring want you to understand that what you’re about to watch is based on a true story. Maybe they know that makes this story all the more terrifying. With any movie, we expect some exaggerations and liberties to be taken for dramatic...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on September 26, 2018

The first time I saw Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was about ten years ago on a computer screen across the room. Though I was intrigued, it was late and collectively, my husband and I slept through half the movie. Disappointing, I know. However, a few weeks ago, my...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 30, 2018

It’s been fourteen years since we first met Pixar’s family of superheroes, yet their story picks up from the moment the first film ended. It opens with the Parr family springing into action to stop The Underminer, while they juggle babysitting Jack Jack, and it ensures us that this film...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 27, 2018

Hello readers, sorry it’s been a while. As of the last post here, I was uncomfortably 31 weeks pregnant with kid number 2. Since then, I swelled up to the point that I could barely walk and gave birth to a nearly 9 lb baby. My son was born on...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on May 13, 2018

Mother’s Day is here and just like a hot latte and clean yoga pants Tully is here just in time to help us celebrate with a thoughtful, smart and brutally honest story of modern motherhood. However, if you’re looking for a cute, uplifting, Bad Moms style barrel of laughs, Tully...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on March 22, 2018

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to have a once in a lifetime experience that any film fan or music nerd would kill for. I got to see John Williams conducting some of his most iconic film music, live with my hometown orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. I...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on March 3, 2018

Welcome to Oscar weekend! As we get ready for the Academy Awards on Sunday night, let me share my picks and predictions. First, let’s pretend it’s the old days where only 5 films were nominated for Best Picture. My picks would narrow the running down to: Three Billboards     ...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on March 1, 2018

To be honest, I was not looking forward to seeing The Post, which is surprising since I am usually anxiously awaiting Steven Spielberg’s films. While I do appreciate the genre, there’s just something about films featuring hardworking, honest journalists fighting against the man that does   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 25, 2018

There are few things that many women universally love and covet, but Phantom Thread focuses on two: beautiful things to wear and the love of a man. Both can make a woman feel lovely, wanted and desired. However, if anything comes between her and the things or person who makes...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 23, 2018

The opening credits of Call Me By Your Name feature images of ancient Greek and Roman statues. They are various depictions of young men, their naked likeness preserved smooth in stone with sensual curves. Anyone who’s seen Michelangelo’s David understands the concept. Throughout the film, our   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 19, 2018

Darkest Hour puts the first few weeks of Winston Churchill’s time as Prime Minister under a microscope. It is May 1940, and England’s politics are shaky as Neville Chamberlain is voted out as Prime Minister. Churchill is not the first choice, and has his political enemies, but is appointed next....   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 16, 2018

Once the Oscar nominations were announced, there was a sudden backlash against The Boss Baby. How could such tripe be nominated for Best Animated Feature over popular franchise gems like The Lego Batman Movie or Cars 3? In my opinion, easily, like taking candy from a baby. You see, Dreamworks’...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 11, 2018

In the midst of the MeToo era, Three Billboards is a resounding battle-cry for those seeking justice. In the film, Mildred (Frances McDormand) pays for three old billboards to display a message calling out the local police department to find the man who raped and murdered her daughter seven months...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 5, 2018

Since it was released to theaters in March of 2017, Get Out has been wowing audiences. I knew this was the sort of film full of surprises, so I made sure to avoid any spoilers until I was ready to see it and only knew how it was described to...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on January 29, 2018

I had a writing professor once tell me that the best autobiographical stories are not written the day after the event. It is best to wait and let it age, like a fine wine. She suggested about ten years, maybe more. In Lady Bird, director and writer Greta Gerwig tells...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on January 25, 2018

Guillermo del Toro is the kind of director that can bring the most strange and implausible scenarios to life with such detail and beauty that we wholeheartedly believe in them. He is the sort of visionary that can manipulate our suspension of disbelief perfectly for his ideas. In The Shape...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on January 22, 2018

It’s been nearly eight years since I started The Best Picture Project. Eight years since I decided to watch and review every film nominated for Best Picture. A lot has happened over those eight years. I’ve lived in three different states. Had jobs, quit jobs. Made friends, lost loved ones....   read more