Conducting a therapy session by way of moviemaking is something I’m intensely interested in…if done correctly. It feeds into our fascination with celebrity, and the films themselves take on deeper meanings than what’s on the …
Nick Kush
Nick Kush
A current young professional in the Richmond, Virginia area, Nick founded MovieBabble in October of 2016 when he was a bored college student with nothing else to do. (And he kicks himself every day that his story isn't better.) Nick is also a member of the Online Film Critics Society, the Internet Film Critics Society and the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association. You can follow him on Twitter @nkush42
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PodcastsThe MovieBabble Podcast
The Coronavirus Makes Its First Noticeable Impact on the Box Office
by Nick Kushby Nick KushWith a growing list of items that includes the cancellation of SXSW 2020, MGM pushing No Time To Die to November, and now Onward‘s lackluster first-place finish this weekend at the box office, the effects of …
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From generations of watching blood spew all over the screen — brought upon by some of our favorite horror icons and other nefarious ne’er-do-wells — we’re all a bit conditioned to bodily harm in movies. …
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ReviewsThriller
‘Disappearance at Clifton Hill’ Takes the Unreliable Narrator Up a Notch
by Nick Kushby Nick KushI like to think I’m a fan of most film genres, but there’s something about a taut mystery that is extra exciting. Disappearance at Clifton Hill channels a lot of what makes the genre great, trapping …
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Dating at a young age is like trying to maneuver through a minefield, especially in relationships that go horribly wrong. You still have no idea who you are, and you can almost forget knowing how …
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The strangest feeling I had in quite some time was elation after watching this year’s Academy Awards. Who would have thunk it, the Academy made a cool choice for Best Picture! Although, with the benefit …
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ReviewsRomance
‘Olympics Dreams’ Offers a Look Inside the 2018 Winter Olympics…and Love
by Nick Kushby Nick KushI’m always fascinated by what people in the industry can do with such limited resources. It’s a constant reminder that filmmaking is a marvel. And also that it’s hard. Incredibly hard. Amazingly, for Olympic Dreams, director …
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Title pun aside, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood remade Ruben Östland’s Force Majeure. The premise is just too good to pass up, being both a high-concept, attention-grabbing jumping-off point for marketing …
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PodcastsThe MovieBabble Podcast
‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Beats the Memes to Become a Box Office Hit
by Nick Kushby Nick KushWhen it comes to dunking on things that seem really, really stupid, the internet is just about undefeated. The weekend brought with it an exception to that rule: Sonic the Hedgehog. The big-screen adaptation of …
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ComedyReviews
‘The Nowhere Inn’ Ruins the Tour Documentary For Every Recording Artist
by Nick Kushby Nick KushI had a funny experience when I caught up with Netflix’s Miss Americana, the Taylor Swift documentary which captures her political awakening while also recapping her career and work leading up to the release of …
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DramaReviews
‘Charm City Kings’ is an Urgent Portrait of Baltimore With Serious Breakout Potential
by Nick Kushby Nick KushAfter my first experience at Sundance last year, I arrived this year at the festival cognizant of the hyperbolic reactions that come with the environment. (Or, at the very least, I did my best. I’m …
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PodcastsThe MovieBabble Podcast
‘Birds of Prey’ Struggles in Its Opening Weekend, But is It a Flop?
by Nick Kushby Nick KushBirds of Prey came in well below studio and industry expectations, battling a slew of Oscar-nominated movies as well as other popular movies in their latest weeks of release. Was it the quality of the …
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Sundance 2020 was a whirlwind experience, to say the least. Both Collin and I are still shaking off the cobwebs from the week spent in Park City, but the lack of sleep didn’t stop us …
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DramaReviews
‘Minari’ is Uplifting, Tragic, Funny, and the Best Film Out of Sundance 2020
by Nick Kushby Nick KushThere are precious few films that announce their brilliance in their opening moments. Minari is one of those films — and I’m positive that this isn’t the “Sundance high” talking that frequently comes with reactions …
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Action/AdventureReviews
‘Bad Boys for Life’ is the Rare Delayed Sequel that Actually Works
by Nick Kushby Nick KushBad Boys 2 may be the best bad movie ever made. Not in the same sense as ironic classics The Room and Plan 9 from Outer Space, which offer nothing but laughs at pure incompetence and …
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PodcastsThe MovieBabble Podcast
‘Bad Boys for Life’ Surprises with One of the Best MLK Weekend Grosses Ever
by Nick Kushby Nick KushBad Boys for Life is the most pleasant surprise of 2020 thus far, opening to huge numbers over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Already earning $112 million worldwide against a $90 million budget and …
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DocumentaryReviews
‘Citizen K’ is an Urgent Document of Russian Discord and Putin’s Rise to Power
by Nick Kushby Nick KushIn the ashes of the Soviet Union, Russia was looking for a makeover, ditching socialism in exchange for capitalism. It was supposed to signify a rebirth of sorts, a turning of the page for a …
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Rod Goldman and Al Silverman are street performers who work the tourist scene of Times Square. Goldman gets no respect and Silverman is the first one to make sure of that. Credits Directed By: …
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Ah, January, a time when every critic wonders why they even bother. I often think that studios think something similar as they release bottom-of-the-barrel material with a lazy shrug that says, “well, at least we …
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DramaReviews
An Injustice in Storytelling: ‘Just Mercy’ Drowns Its Urgent Message in Superficiality
by Nick Kushby Nick KushThe last bit of text before the credits come over the screen in Just Mercy reads “For every 9 people who have been executed in the U.S., one person on death row has been proven …
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With a few days to reflect on all the movies I watched in the last calendar year, I feel very content with 2019’s slate. But I still watched a ton of crap. Too much, in …
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Was 2019 a good or bad year for movies? Who’s to say. Regardless of what the immediate outcome is at the Oscars in a few months, we won’t know for sure until years down the …
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Trends
The Best Times to Use the Clip of Adam Driver Yelling in ‘Marriage Story’ on Film Twitter
by Nick Kushby Nick KushBy the power of Netflix, Marriage Story, a fairly serious drama about an insanely contentious divorce, has been memed to death by Film Twitter and beyond. Stills of Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson arguing about …
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There’s no denying that Star Wars has become one of the most popular franchises in film history, if not the most popular. George Lucas changed the cinematic landscape back in 1977, and we’ve felt it ever since. …
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ReviewsThriller
Prepare for ‘Uncut Gems’ to Repeatedly Punch You in the Face (In a Good Way!)
by Nick Kushby Nick KushUncut Gems feels like it is partially plucked from my dream journal. It has so many things that I love or am captivated by, from a New York-based crime story to a great Adam Sandler …
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We should bar every critic from calling 1917 a “cinematic achievement”, a “technical achievement”, or any derivation of the two. It’s an overused phrase in film discourse as it is, but 1917 has only made …
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Streaming ReviewsStreaming Romance
‘Marriage Story’ is Painfully Heartbreaking, and Possibly Noah Baumbach’s Best Film
by Nick Kushby Nick KushAnyone that is familiar with Noah Baumbach’s work would know that Marriage Story isn’t necessarily breaking new ground. He’s made his career on telling family dramas about individuals in metropolitan areas, specifically New York. Most …
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Over the years, coming-of-age films have taught me one overarching idea: rebellious teens gotta rebel. It’s a timeless idea baked into coming-of-age tales from every generation in which a young adult begins to form their …
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ComedyReviews
‘Noelle’ Marks The Beginning of Disney Making Low Stakes Streaming Content
by Nick Kushby Nick KushSince Netflix began pumping out original content every single week, there’s been a clear difference between their high-end properties such as Roma or the upcoming The Irishman and something such as Tall Girl or Sierra Burgess is a Loser. Putting …