The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 8, 2017

When I first started this blog, seven years ago now, I didn’t like musicals. What a dumb thing to say, it’s like telling Ryan Gosling’s character in La La Land that you don’t like jazz. Sure, some musicals can let you down, just like bland jazz elevator music. But once...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 4, 2017

A western set in the twenty-first century is like finding a rattlesnake curled up around the gearshift of your car. It’s rare, an unusually beautiful thing to come across and keeps you on your toes. Director David Mackenzie and writer Taylor Sheridan have created a taut new modern western worthy...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on January 31, 2017

There are quite a few Oscar nominated films about the civil rights era. There are also many about the space race. And there are even more about the importance of feminism, in one way or another. Until Hidden Figures, I cannot think of another great film capturing the importance of...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on January 10, 2017

Disney’s latest animated film takes us on amazing journey through Polynesian folklore as a young girl fulfills an ancient prophecy and saves her island home. Her name is Moana, and she is another amazing character in Disney’s girl power movement. Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) is the daughter of the   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on December 5, 2016

In the first few minutes of Swiss Army Man, our shipwrecked protagonist rides a washed up corpse like a fart propelled jet ski to land. While the moment is strange and may make viewers question what kind of movie they’re watching, it is equally funny and uplifting. Many people complain...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on October 1, 2016

For the past few Octobers I have enjoyed binging on horror movies and writing new reviews here at The Best Picture Project.  However, this year my October is going to be very different.  My husband and I are having our first real family vacation with our 2 year old son...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on September 14, 2016

Great filmmakers and true film lovers are fierce advocates for sharing stories.  There is real power and legacy in storytelling, whether we reminisce about loved ones over dinner.  Or we read our old favorite picture books to children.  And of course we tell everyone we can to go see this...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on August 15, 2016

Accurate depiction of toddlers after midnight. This summer I have enjoyed taking my son to the local movie theaters to see cheap kids movies they play on weekend mornings.  It sounded like paradise at first; sit in a comfy air conditioned theater with my 2 year old as we share...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 29, 2016

Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) is a young, optimistic rabbit who dreamed her whole life of being a police officer.  She’s the daughter of a carrot farmer from her little country town and plans to move to Zootopia, where anyone can be anything.  But there are big obstacles for...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 21, 2016

When I first heard that there was going to be a film based on Disney World’s classic ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, teenage me had some doubts.  What kind of silly story could be told based on animatronic pirates who plunder, pillage, auction off women and sing?  But under the...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on July 1, 2016

For the past thirteen years Dory (voiced by the wonderful Ellen DeGeneres) has been the world favorite forgetful fish.  Between speaking whale, befriending sharks and forgetting the whole thing, she stole the show in Finding Nemo.  And let’s face it, Marlin wouldn’t have gotten far without her.  It   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on June 24, 2016

Many of Disney’s films feature anthropomorphic animals.  In most we are either completely in an animal world (The Lion King) or a in human’s world with animals who band together (101 Dalmatians, The Aristocats).  While The Jungle Book comes close, 1999’s Tarzan beautifully bridges the human and anim   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on June 17, 2016

In 1959, after nearly ten years in production and Disneyland’s castle named in its honor, Disney’s Sleeping Beauty was finally released.  It was the first film animated in 70mm and a true feat of artistic achievement.  To this day, many consider it to be the visual high point of animation...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on June 10, 2016

In The Good Dinosaur, the minds at Pixar have imagined a world where the meteor that killed the dinosaurs has missed Earth.  The result, a few million years later, are more evolved dinosaurs.  They farm the land, are ranchers, or sometimes just scavengers.  And the humans that have come along...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on June 3, 2016

When my mom took us kids to see Hercules in the summer of ‘97, I had already picked up a few mythology books and was well versed in the story of Hercules. I let out a few early eye rolls, especially at Hera being portrayed as Herc’s loving mother, but...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on May 30, 2016

Grab your mouse ears and stock up on pixie dust, because The Best Picture Project is going to dive into some Disney films!  Over the summer I’ll post my reviews of classic and new Disney (and Pixar) films. I’ve been putting off a lot of these classic and modern Disney...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on April 7, 2016

In our modern world, it can be baffling the way people used to think about modern medicine.  Over and over in The Story of Louis Pasteur we hear doctors and scientists scoff and laugh at Pasteur’s ideas.  Washing your hands after treating a sick patient?  Silly!  Boiling your surgical tools...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 25, 2016

Oscar Sunday is almost here!  Which means we are all making our guesses and predictions on what films will go down in history as Oscar winners.  Personally, I think this year has been a bit bland, but let’s have fun with it anyway. First off, let’s have some fun and...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 18, 2016

Steven Spielberg’s newest film, Bridge of Spies, lands us in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the tense Cold War.  When Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested for supposedly being a Soviet spy, Brooklyn lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks) takes the case to defend him.  Donovan quickly realizes the...   read more

The Best Picture Project Posted by Alyson on February 15, 2016

To say I enjoyed Mad Max: Fury Road is an understatement.  I was thrilled, enthralled, mesmerized and by the end, freakin’ pumped up!  This film is an intense, fun and sprawling modern epic that lands us in a crazy, yet surprisingly beautiful post apocalyptic world.  Usually, I like most best...   read more