This piece examines the thematic relationship between Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and the Wachowski siblings’ The Matrix. Needles to say, beware of spoilers. In 1984, one year before the founding of the legendary Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki’s first major directorial effort was released. Nausicaä of the Valley of […]
A New Hope for Genre Designation
Since 1977, there has been an epic battle raging between two of the biggest franchises in popular culture. Fans of Star Trek fans and Star Wars have been at each other’s throats for years, periodically culminating in films like Kyle Newman’s farcical road trip flick Fanboys, but I have never understood why; from what I can tell, the only thing the […]
Premium Rush
When I first saw the trailer for Premium Rush, I was somewhat taken aback. Here were Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon – two phenomenal, top-of-the line actors who have thrived both in independent and Hollywood films – both choosing to star in what looked like a cliché chase film for the hipster generation. But while […]
The Midlife Crisis of 1999
If you ask someone what American Beauty, Fight Club, The Matrix, Office Space, The Boondock Saints, and Being John Malkovich have in common, they’ll probably either say they have no idea, or they’ll stare at you for a moment before walking off in a daze. Given some time to think, though, it becomes clear that […]
The Intouchables
Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s latest film is a fascinating character study that approaches many of the themes handled in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. And while it doesn’t quite match the dramatic depth or raw honesty of that film, The Intouchables largely succeeds in its marriage of emotion and humor. As a sylistic, feel-good flick with strong individual elements, […]
The Bourne Legacy with Mike and Søren
Here’s how our Dueling Reviews format works: each contributor writes an independent, abbreviated, spoiler-free review of the film. Then, the contributors come together in a podcast and discuss the movie in depth. Mike’s Review A week after I saw The Bourne Legacy, a friend called me up telling me that he was going to see it that […]
The Dark Knight Rises with Søren and Stuart
Here’s how our Dueling Reviews format works: each contributor writes an independent, abbreviated, spoiler-free review of the film. Then, the contributors come together in a podcast and discuss the movie in depth. Søren’s Review At this point, I think that most people are aware that I just plain old didn’t like The Dark Knight. The film won endless […]
Superheroes Don’t Need to be Antiheroes
I once again find myself at odds with one of Roger Ebert’s Far-Flung Correspondents. Omer Mozaffar recently wrote an article entitled “The Dark Knight Rises, an American genre falls,” which you can read here. I wrote this piece in direct response to Mr. Mozaffar. This was a very astute assessment of the Dark Knight trilogy – Mr. Mozaffar succinctly summarized the […]
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Each time the Sundance Film Festival rolls around, there are two categories of film which make the news: those that are so far off of the deep end that people become visibly upset by what they see on-screen, and those that people view as possible Oscar contenders for Best Picture. Beasts of the Southern Wild, a film depicting […]
The Amazing Spider-Man
It has been a long, long decade since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man debuted in 2002. The comic book film universe has been on a roller coaster of highs and lows, producing everything from drivel like Ang Lee’s Hulk and Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand to blockbuster hits like Jon Favreau’s Iron Man and Christopher Nolan’s […]
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