Reviews of “Is This Thing On?” and “Your Attention Please,” along with my 2026 Oscar scorecard, are all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Radio Network, available by clicking here ...

Tune in for the latest Cinema Scribe segment on Bring Me 2 Life Radio, beginning Tuesday March 24, 2 pm ET, available by clicking here. You can also catch it later on demand on Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Castbox, Podchaser, Audible, Deezer, Podcast Addict and Jiosaavn ...

“Is This Thing On?” (2025) (USA). Cast: Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, Peyton Manning, Blake Kane, Calvin Knegten, Sean Hayes, Scott Icenogle, Chloe Radcliffe, Reggie Conquest, Amy Sedaris, Gabe Fazio. Director: Bradley Cooper. Screenplay: Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett and Mark Chappell. Story: Will Arnett, Mark Chappell and John Bishop. Web site. Trailer. No matter how much we may care for our significant others, we sometimes appear to experience issues with them that threaten the future of our relationships. The love between us might still be seemingly present, but the overall tone of the partnership feels … off, and we’re unlikely to know why. Unfortunately, under those circumstances, we often give up and choose to separate, but is that really the wisest course? Perhaps there’s something more at work here. And those are precisely the questions raised in the new romantic comedy-drama, “Is This Thing On?” Middle-aged couple Alex and Tess Novak (Will Arnett, Laura Dern) have been married for 20 years, but they’ve been slowly drifting apart for some time – so much so, in fact, that they now find themselves on the brink of divorce. The sad part in this, though. is ...

So how did I do? Well, my Oscar prognostications came up better than last year but still a little short of the mark. I had five correct calls out of eight, with two others where I was in the ballpark but not spot on and one more that was a surprise. On the two near-misses, I essentially overrated the chances of one projected candidate and underestimated the prospects of the winner. Perhaps I allowed my personal preferences to cloud my judgment in picking the winners. In any event, here are the details: Best Picture The Field: “Bugonia”, “F1”, “Frankenstein”, “Hamnet”, “Marty Supreme”, “One Battle After Another”, “The Secret Agent” (“O Agente Secreto”) (Brazil), “Sentimental Value” (“Affeksjonsverdi”) (Norway), “Sinners”, “Train Dreams” Projected Winner: “Sinners” Preferred Winner: “Bugonia” Actual Winner: “One Battle After Another” Result: Mixed result (sort of) In many of the categories, “Sinners” (with a record 16 nominations) and “One Battle After Another” (with 13 nominations) were the frontrunners and locked in formidable competition with one another, and the results reflected that, with “Sinners” taking home four Oscars and “One Battle After Another” capturing six, including in this category. Indeed, in most of their head-to-head races, the winners were essentially ...

Reviews of “Midwinter Break” and “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” along with Oscar predictions and a look back at the best and worst documentaries of 2025, all in the latest Movies with Meaning post on the web site of The Good Radio Network, available by clicking here ...

It’s that time of year again – time for my predictions of the winners at the upcoming annual Academy Awards. For me, this is generally a labor of love, but, like 2025, this year’s awards season has again been strange – wild, unpredictable and, ultimately, often frustrating, which has made looking into my cinematic crystal ball far more difficult than in most years. Even though 2025 was a better year for movies than the one that preceded it, many of its best offerings were overlooked when it came to awards season honors, either in terms of wins or nominations. To be sure, a number of good releases were recognized for their accomplishments, but there were many more that didn’t receive their just due in my opinion. And, as for the ones that were lucky enough to be nominated in the preliminary competitions, there has been considerable variability among the winners in the run-up to awards season’s biggest night. Like 2024, because of the widespread variability in the results leading up to this year’s Oscars, handicapping the races has again been somewhat challenging, even though a slightly clearer picture has begun to emerge from the most recent contests. However, as in ...