5 Oscar Nominations That Will Happen, But Shouldn’t
5. Clint Eastwood, Best Actor - Gran Torino
Great, his last acting performance. He does a fine job mocking his Dirty Harry image and conveying drama from a s...
Dan Mecca
5 Oscar Nominations That Should Happen, But Won’t
Every year the Oscars take place, and every year some of the best (usually more than just some) are ignored by the Academy. Blame it on bureaucracy. Here are 5 ...
Why The Dark Knight Should Not Win Best Picture
Chris Nolan's fantastic film is #7 on my Top 20 list, and the 5th American film on the list. Therefore, it is technically the 5th of the 5 films I feel should...
Top 20 Films of 2008 [Dan]
Unlike Jordan, I decided to stay traditional and put down the 20 best films of the year. Because if I did put down my faves something silly like Role Models mig...
In Defense of…the 2008 film season
The general consensus of the past year of movies is a rather negative one, from a critical standpoint. "We were spoiled in 2007," seems to be the excuse, and it...
In Defense of…Body of Lies (and War on Terror movies in general)
Recently, fellow FilmStager Jordan Raup posted his "Top 5 Disappointments of 2008," Ridley Scott's Body of Lies in the #4 position. I have finally seen the fil...
The Spirit is Not “Something the World Needs”
The Spirit, based on a 1940s comic serial written by Will Eisner, is a smorgasbord of visuals and color coordination courtesy of writer/director Frank Miller. M...
Benjamin Button examines time on earth, becomes timeless film
There is a scene towards the beginning of David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, in which a submarine emerges from the sea with the grace and othe...
Gran Torino – A Vintage Model with Old Kinks (6 out of 10)
Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino is a comfortable film that deals with uncomfortable themes, never taking the time to get comfortable with itself. Once again taking...
Top 5 Most Underappreciated Films of 2008
5. AugustThis smart taut 85- minute character study watches the collapse of the '01 web bubble the month before 9/11 through the eyes of Tom Sterling (Josh Hart...
Dan Mecca
Managing Editor
Dan Mecca is the co-founder and managing editor of The Film Stage. He is a producer and filmmaker living in Pittsburgh. He watches a lot of movies and tracks them on Letterboxd.