Shame on Scorsese
In what might amount to a seismic shift within Hollywood, Martin Scorsese has embraced the use of AI in film storyboarding. Shame on him for valuing speed and cost savings over real human artistry. The industry has been quick to respond, and the response isn’t pretty. Visit Variety for the full story. Meanwhile, Bollywood is […]
Florida Film Festival ’26 wraps
The 35th annual Florida Film Festival ended last night with a 75th-anniversary screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. It was an eventful, inspiring and exhausting 10 days. Including the advance press screenings, I watched 21 features and nearly 70 shorts, out of the 161 total films shown from April 10 through 19. To […]
Promote yourself on MeierMovies
Good news! MeierMovies is now offering reciprocal ads. If you would like to promote yourself, your film company, your film festival or something entertainment-related on this website, in exchange for promotion of MeierMovies on your site or social media, please contact me at MeierMovies@aol.com. The ad is visible on all pages of the site, in […]
The Florida Big Three
The world’s Big Three film festivals, historically, are Venice (the world’s first), Cannes (arguably the best) and Berlin. Florida has its Big Three too: Miami, Florida and Sarasota. And though the latter has taken some hits in the last few years, it’s still often included in the top tier. But if you plan to attend […]
Support MeierMovies on social media
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Rooting for Iranian artistic freedom
With the war in Iran raging, the Oscar-nominated drama It Was Just an Accident (4 ¼ stars on 0-5 scale) is on my mind again. It’s one of the best movies of 2025. The story illustrates the evil Iranian regime of the now-dead ayatollah. Kudos to Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi, who defied the odds and […]
The 5,000 films of Dr. Meier
I just watched and rated my 5,000th feature film. In case you didn’t guess the film from the title of this post, it’s The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. From 1953, this daringly odd, live-action musical-fantasy (3 stars on my 0-5 scale) was written and art-directed by Dr. Seuss and co-directed by Roy Rowland and […]
Happy 100th birthday, Richard Matheson
Happy 100th birthday, author Richard Matheson, who will be born on this date in 1926. Somewhere in time, he is legend.
When the Sun won’t shine, go with the Flo
For those of you attending the Sundance Film Festival this weekend, I wish you well. I had hoped to make this year my first foray to Park City, to coincide with the last Sundance in Utah. I even booked my hotel. But it wasn’t to be. Instead, I’ll be spending the weekend at the Central […]
Statement on AI
Let me state for the record that I have no interest in watching, listening to or reading content generated by artificial intelligence. And if I must rate or review a film that uses AI extensively, I will label it “AI” (like I label silent films “Sl” and foreign-language films “FL“) and in most instances bump […]
Looking back at 2025
I watched 233 feature films in 2025, plus hundreds of shorts and several TV/web shows. Of those 233 feature films, 73 were released in 2025. See where those 73 films landed on my 2025 yearly list here. My yearly list will continue to evolve as I catch up on more 2025 movies. But, for now, […]
Remembering “The People’s Director”
R.I.P., Rob Reiner, who died tragically and violently yesterday in Los Angeles alongside his wife, Michele. Go here to read my reflections on his legacy in the wake of his death and the egregious comments from President Trump.
New reviews, and remembering Redford
The flurry of important film releases continues as we build toward awards season. If you are a film critic, cinephile or just an average movie fan, it can be difficult to keep up. But I’m doing my best, with my own flurry of reviews. Go here to find out what I’ve seen, and reviewed, recently. […]
I, Claudia
“I hope you’ll come back someday.” – Claudia Cardinale (1938-2025), from Once Upon a Time in the West. R.I.P., great beauty. For information on the life of the iconic Italian actress, visit Wikipedia.
Thanks, Sundance
Robert Redford was the king of modern Hollywood and the godfather of independent cinema. He was the Natural. He was the Sundance Kid.
Fall into film festivals
Go here for my annual preview of late-summer and fall festivals in the Orlando area.
Hiatus
I’m taking a hiatus from covering and writing about film. While I’m away, check out my latest reviews and articles: Films of the 34th Annual Florida Film Festival La Gloria (2025; 3 ¾ stars) Mr. K (2025; 2 stars) The Phoenician Scheme (2025; 2 stars) Stolen Kingdom (2025; 3 stars) Time Travel Is Dangerous (2025; […]
Oh, Danny boy!
White British director Danny Boyle recently said that if his Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire (2008) were released today, he wouldn’t helm it, citing “cultural appropriation” and “baggage.” Instead, the film would need an Indian director. (See The Hollywood Reporter.) As we contemplate a world in which writers and directors are limited to stories and characters that […]
Remembering Brian Wilson (on film)
As we cinephiles remember the musical giant Brian Wilson, who died on June 11, we might be tempted to turn to the Disney+ documentary The Beach Boys, from last year. That’s a decent place to start, but a more interesting take — and a better film — can be found in Love & Mercy, from […]
Pride Month: Do not forget the “pansies”
As we recognize our modern Pride Month, let us not forget the past. Specifically, let us remember Gene Malin, the pride of the “Pansy Craze” of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Go here to learn more.
Trump’s artistic ‘hand’
Like many other authoritarian leaders, President Trump fancies himself a connoisseur of the arts while simultaneously seeking to eliminate art he deems offensive. Fortunately, the American system of government prevents Trump from controlling the arts the way other nations’ dictators have. Nevertheless, he is pushing U.S. laws to their limits and beyond with his recent […]
Andy Kaufman is still alive (maybe)
Andy Kaufman is still alive. OK, probably not, but for the first time I am seriously entertaining the idea that the innovative comedian, actor and performance artist faked his death. The oddities and coincidences are just too great to not consider the possibility. What changed my mind from considering the idea a hoax to a […]
Strangest closing credits?
I used to think the closing credits of Skidoo (1968), which are sung by Harry Nilsson, were the weirdest in cinema history. But then I reacquainted myself with Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981), which features end credits over footage of a topless Bo Derek being groped by an orangutan. I’m trying to imagine director John […]
Introducing new list of short films
If you’re a fan of short films — or of film history in general — you will enjoy my newest list. It’s a ranking of all the short films I’ve ever seen (about 3,500) by year. My previous lists of short films listed the movies alphabetically and by star rating, but not by year. So […]
Trump deems foreign films a threat
For information on the latest announcement by President Trump, go here.
Florida Film Festival to begin Friday
The 34th annual Florida Film Festival is scheduled for April 11-20, at Maitland, Florida’s Enzian Theater and Regal Winter Park Village. Check out my coverage in The Orlando Weekly later this week, including commentary on the opening film, Stolen Kingdom, and an interview with the documentary’s director, Joshua Bailey. I might also have more to […]
Filmapalooza 2025 concludes
Filmapalooza, the international competition of the 48 Hour Film Project, was held March 19-22 in Seattle. For my review of the annual festival, go here.
Love Your Shorts 2025 begins
The 2025 Love Your Shorts Film Festival began last night at the historic Ritz Theater in Sanford, Florida, with Education Day. The fest screened five short films, followed by a discussion panel with four local filmmakers: Albert Gonzalez, Kimberly Di Persia, Jason True and Parissa Glaser. Local filmmaker TL Westgate moderated. The screening and panel […]
Save the penny!
Save the penny! OK, maybe not THIS penny, which doomed Richard Collier in the time-travel masterpiece Somewhere in Time. But, in general, let’s fight Trump’s plan to end production of the mighty penny.
Trump targets the arts
President Trump plans to fire multiple board members of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the preeminent performing-arts institution in Washington, D.C., and install himself as chairman. Though the Kennedy Center is a public-private entity and the president is tasked with appointing board members, this is an unprecedented move, as the Center […]
Clarity vs. ambiguity
Modern cinema loves vagueness and ambiguity, but they should always have a purpose. If a script is vague, confusing and ambiguous for no reason, it’s simply bad. My favorite quote about this is from C.S. Lewis: “Take great pains to be clear. Remember that though you start by knowing what you mean, the reader doesn’t, […]
‘Motion Picture Paradise’
When discussing the history of American film, Florida is often overlooked. I find that depressing not just because I live in the Sunshine State but because, in a small way, I was part of that history in the early 1990s when I worked at the Disney-MGM Studios. That experience helped shape my love of film. […]
Movie heritage up in flames
Amid the physical devastation of the Los Angeles fires lies the cultural devastation, specifically the loss of many famous sites associated with movies and television. To learn more about the losses, I suggest this article from The Los Angeles Times.
Follow MeierMovies on Instagram
I’ve been told all the kiddies are doing it, so MeierMovies is joining the Generation Z bandwagon and creating an Instagram account. (Do Gen Zers even know what a “bandwagon” is? Hey! Get off my lawn!) Go here to follow MeierMovies on Instagram.
8K
No, I’m not talking about the cinematic resolution of the future. I’m talking about 8,000 movies. To the point, I just watched and rated my 8,000th movie. That’s 4,727 features and 3,273 shorts. So what was the 8,000th movie? Mothers’ Instinct (3 stars on 0-5 scale), directed by Benoît Delhomme. It’s a remake of a […]
‘Ben-Hur’ live and in person
Orlando’s Mary, Queen of the Universe Basilica and Shrine held a screening of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, the 1925 silent classic, on Friday, October 25. What made this event unique was the presence of Dr. Steven Ball, who accompanied the film on the shrine’s majestic organ. It was almost like having the fictional […]
Festivalitis hits Orlando
Fall is approaching fast, and that means one thing to cinephiles in Central Florida: festivals. Though film fests happen throughout the year, autumn always seems the busiest in the City Beautiful. The Love Your Shorts Summer Rewind just finished, as did the Orlando Urban Film Festival, and the Orlando 48 Hour Film Project competition is […]
Remember the Alamo …?
Remember the Alamo … Drafthouse, when it was independently owned? Not anymore, as Sony Pictures has purchased the company. Read about it in Variety. This likely would not have happened if the historic Paramount Decree, a 1948 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that broke up the partnerships between studios and cinemas, had not been […]
Take THAT, Variety!
Though Variety magazine was founded in 1905, it initially covered just theatre and vaudeville, not film. You’d have to wait until 1933, when Daily Variety was launched, the read the publication’s coverage of motion pictures. So in those early years of film, many people turned to The Moving Picture World. Looking back at past issues, […]
First dummy/doll horror?
Could The Doll’s Revenge, directed by Cecil B. Hepworth in 1907, be the first dummy/doll horror film? And do the twin dolls at the end of the film remind you of the Grady girls in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining? Hepworth was a pioneering British filmmaker who, in 1903, made what is considered the first movie […]
Let’s get real
Thanks to Turner Classic Movies, I finally saw the directorial debut, from 1979, of one of my favorite writers/actors/comedians, Albert Brooks. The movie, appropriately titled Real Life (3 ½ stars on 0-5 scale), is a groundbreaking mockumentary that predates the Christopher Guest films, Woody Allen’s Zelig (1983) and The Truman Show (1998). The latter, arguably the […]
Florida Film Festival begins Friday
The 33rd annual Florida Festival begins Friday in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida. For my coverage, go here.
Globes are reborn
The Golden Globes were reborn last night in Beverly Hills, sans the Hollywood Foreign Press. And although my own choices disagreed significantly with the Globes’ picks — hey, it wouldn’t be an awards ceremony if that didn’t happen — I am thrilled that Anatomy of a Fall was recognized for best film not in English […]
Farewell, Tom
Tom Wilkinson was known to most as an actor in The Full Monty, for which he won a BAFTA, and In the Bedroom and Michael Clayton, for which he garnered Academy Award nominations. But for me, he was a friend. A school chum and colleague of my dad, Paul, Tom was an immensely talented performer. […]
Top films of the year
As the year draws to a close, critics and audiences alike are compiling their “best of 2023” lists. Though this year has been a challenging one for me personally, with less time to watch films, I’m slowly catching up. In the coming weeks, my list will be changing constantly and probably won’t even begin to […]
