Category: BLOGS

Risë Birnbaum & the Buzz

BRING ON THE MADNESS

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My favorite time of year is almost here. No, I’m not talking about the arrival of the cherry blossoms here in the nation’s capital—although I love them, too. I’m talking about March Madness, when college basketball fans across the country fill out brackets and stay glued to their televisions. I usually do two brackets—one where my beloved Maryland Terrapins win… Read more →

WOMEN IN RED

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It’s International Women’s Day—a time for red-robed women around the world to demonstrate what the economy would be like without our money. Can you imagine if women don’t buy anything for an entire day? Now that’s a shot heard round the world. I have a small marcomm agency and demanding clients who deserve attention, so we’re working today, but my… Read more →

ALL I WANT FOR THE HOLIDAYS…IS TO SEE A GOOD MOVIE

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I love watching movies and talking about them afterwards. I tend to favor sprawling romantic epics (Out of Africa is one of my all-time favorites) and “chick flicks” such as Sense and Sensibility, but I also enjoy a good black comedy (Ruthless People anyone?). There are a few “guilty pleasures” on my must-see list as well, movies that probably aren’t very good but still manage to draw me in anytime they’re on TV (Millennium, This is Where I Leave You and Fever Pitch come to mind).

Judge me if you’d like. I stand by all my picks. I’m a woman of eclectic tastes.

So far 2016 has been a disappointment, cinematically speaking. Here we are in early December, and I’ve yet to see anything memorable. I was really looking forward to The Girl on the Train, but left the theater disappointed. Same with Captain America: Civil War and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

And don’t even get me started on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That’s 2 ½ hours I’ll never get back again. Note to directors and editors: Two hours is the perfect length for most movies. Even Out of Africa could benefit from a 20- to 30-minute reduction—as long as you don’t take out any of Robert Redford’s scenes.

Of course, December is usually the best month for movies. That means there’s still hope for this year. I saw 2 of my favorite films of 2015—Spotlight and Brooklyn—around the holidays, and there are a number of promising titles coming out in the next few weeks. In no particular order, here are a few that are pretty high on my list:

And while it definitely doesn’t belong on this list, I thought the preview for Why Him? looked pretty funny. As I said before, I’m a woman of eclectic tastes.

Happy holidays everyone. Maybe I’ll see you at the movies!