It was during the Cannes Film Festival in the spring of 2005 when the world first discovered a cult classic: Sin City. Robert Rodriguez’s take on the renowned comic by Frank Miller was chosen to screen in competition at the famous French film festival. At that time, most critics commended the film for its audacious design and smart […]
Gotham: “Selina Kyle” Review
“Selina Kyle” opens with a shot of Bruce Wayne holding his hand over an open flame. Although clearly in pain, Bruce does remove his hand until Alfred (Sean Pertwee) comes into the room. Once Alfred realizes what Bruce is doing, he yells at the boy, only to immediately regret his outburst and instead wrap Bruce in a big […]
Gotham: “Pilot” Review
In the weeks leading up to Gotham, Fox put a lot of effort into marketing. The studio released an interactive version of the Thomas and Martha Wayne murder scene for fans to explore, as well as a site for the fictional newspaper, the Gotham Chronicle. But will that all pay off in ratings and critical acclaim? […]
Snyder’s Batsuit and Batmobile Revealed
Ben Affleck’s Batman v Superman suit and ride have been revealed. Zack Snyder posted the image to Twitter today. Fans everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief. Kevin Smith’s giddy fanboy response from a few months back makes a lot more sense now. Now that we can see the design in full, it appears that the suit […]
300: Rise of an Empire
Zack Snyder’s 300 moved me. The film has fallen prey to biting parody in recent years, but I knew then that 300 was one of the era’s great cinematic experiences. Movies like that demand to be seen on the big screen. Like both The Matrix and Gravity, 300 was a masterpiece of visual splendor. And it was […]
Sherlock Holmes, Batman, and the Adaptation Question
Josh Rosenfield and Søren Hough often find themselves at odds with one another over topics in film and television. Below is a transcript of one such conversation wherein Josh and Søren debate the merits of the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movies versus Stephan Moffat’s BBC Sherlock television series. The scope of the back-and-forth then broadens […]
Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City Blurs Media, Genre and Style
For this essay, my professor asked us to find a film and talk about how it uses elements from different media, genres and styles to create something entirely new. I chose to talk about Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City. A black and white hand-drawn frame from the Sin City graphic novel appears on the screen as the Blu-ray […]
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 […]
