It isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a young filmmaker to have a distinct style, however it does become problematic when they all feel the same. Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) has made three feature films that all feature the same color palettes, narrative structure, compositions, and overall feel. In the era of Marvel films, […]
Expectations for Will Smith’s latest vehicle, Focus, has been low. In an era when every major star is no longer making movies, but franchises, many have not known what to make of the low-key marketing for the new flick. Focus is clearly inspired by movies such as The Sting and The Color of Money, where the excitement doesn’t come from […]
At one point in film history, the spy movie was the most popular action genre for escapism and adventure. It essentially was the precursor to the superhero movie. It had secret identities, action that spans the globe, and technology that is beyond our grasp. The spy genre hasn’t died, it just transformed into something more […]
There has been a growing trend in recent years to utilize the draw of Batman to prop up movies and TV shows. His presence is used on Gotham, a show that uses his entire roster of supporting characters to create an environment where a Batman would need to be created. They are also using him to prop […]
The Interview is not worth going to war over. Hopefully we won’t have to one day send a Terminator back from an apocalyptic future to erase The Interview from Seth Rogen’s filmography. If that does come to pass, the world will not be missing out on one of his classic movies. So the irony of North […]
When does passion for your art cross over to vanity and become fodder to feed the ego? That is one of the many questions that director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros, Babel) asks in his latest film Birdman. The movie is a creative character exploration of a man who has lost touch with his family, career, […]
Peter Jackson returns for the sixth and final time to the world of Middle Earth that he spent decades bringing to a reality. The Lord of the Rings and its follow-up trilogy The Hobbit, have been truly innovative and have paved the way for serialized cinematic storytelling that we will be seeing regularly from Marvel, […]
The Farrelly Bros. (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary) have shown to be interested in making only one type of film. They specialize in balls-to-the-wall (often literally) comedies with politically incorrect and crude humor. They know what makes them laugh and they have stuck to the formula and genre that made them successful, without […]
What happens when you give Disney a faceless Marvel property and invite them to creatively bring their classic heart and charm to play in a superhero sandbox? Big Hero 6. And the movie far exceeds the sum of its parts. The film centers on a 14 year old boy from the futuristic, fictional city of […]
There is something primal about watching a revenge film. It speaks to the part deep down in all of us, that is tired of being stepped on and the cathartic release of watching someone say, “enough is enough.” John Wick is that kind of movie. Except for Wick doesn’t make statements with his mouth. John […]
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has performed disastrously at the box-office this weekend. So we will call this an early Blu-Ray/DVD review. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez return to the film world that they created based on Miller’s graphic novels, Sin City. When the first film was released in 2005, the visual effects […]
Since the release of the first Expendables film, Sylvester Stallone has been trying to prove that there is indeed a country for old men. With each installment the blade continues to be sharpened, unfortunately The Expendables 3 does not quite make the cut. However, there is a lot of fun to be had in the newest […]
