Diego Crespo of The Waffle Press is a stalwart defender of Age of Ultron, a film he believes qualifies as one of the best and most thematically rich MCU films released thus far. I, on the other hand, found Joss Whedon’s Avengers follow-up utterly hollow, terribly confusing and altogether disappointing. Diego invited me onto his show to discuss […]
Why CGI In Guardians of the Galaxy Works
There are many reasons to love Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s funny, it’s smart and it’s one hell of an action-packed ride. The film was a risk; unlike Captain America or Batman, almost no one knew who the these characters were before the film came out. Making a successful blockbuster out of a no-name property was no small feat. […]
Guardians of the Galaxy
For the first few moments of Guardians of the Galaxy, I worried. I saw elements of tropes rearing their head instantly. I sighed at a roguish hero whose existence screamed traits of other classic movie characters. I cringed at a villain whose antics veered well into the theatrical. I gaped as names of planets, new alien […]
Superhero Madness, Part 2: The MCU
Marvel has made cinematic history with their foray into the movies. Although the rights to two of their most valuable properties – X-Men and Spider-Man – respectively belong to Fox and Sony, Marvel has nevertheless created the most profitable franchise of all time. And along the way, they’ve made some of the best superhero movies […]
Breaking Bad and the Protagonist Problem
This discussion began with a focus on the episode “Ozymandias,” but then extended to a broader debate on Breaking Bad, Deadwood, and Game of Thrones. For the record, both Søren and I enjoyed this show – I just liked it a bit more than he did. And this should go without saying, but this conversation […]
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Times have changed. Idealized, hokey but self-aware World War 2 imagery has been replaced with high-tech suspense, political allegories, and twists and turns that’ll alter how viewers see the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you were expecting more of Captain America: The First Avenger, then prepare to be shocked. Iron Man may have been the start […]
Thor: The Dark World
When I saw Kenneth Branagh’s Thor a few years back, I was confused. That isn’t to say I didn’t understand the movie, and I wouldn’t say it wasn’t badly made – I just had no opinion on its content. Perhaps it was the thin character development and gaping plot holes. Maybe it was the hokey […]
On the War Between Movies and TV for the Soul of Horror
Few things have aided the rise of horror on television more than the decline of horror at the movies. There is a rich history of great horror at the movies. Consider the early Universal monster flicks of the 30s and Alfred Hitchcock’s legendary, contemplative re-imagining of the thriller sub-genre. Think about the classic slasher films in […]
Much Ado About Nothing
Expectations are a funny thing, and they almost always get the better of us. Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing is a craftily made Shakespeare adaptation with great performances all around, but you would do well to expect more Bard, less Whedon. That Whedon was able to make this adaptation on a micro-budget, film it […]
Ari’s Top Ten Movies of 2012
This was my first year as a fully-enrolled film student. Sometimes I worry becoming a filmmaker will make it harder to enjoy movies as a filmgoer. Thankfully, I haven’t become a bitter old quite hack yet; there were some movies I got really excited about this past year. So without further ado, here are ten […]
The Avengers is Assembled Well-Enough
My friend Josh Rosenfield over on Popcorn Culture recently wrote a critique of The Avengers. While it was a well-written analysis, it was, shall we say, somewhat less favorable than I was with my review. I felt that the points I wanted to make into rebuttal to that post were too much for a comment, so I decided to […]
The Avengers
Well here we are – it’s May, and The Avengers, my second most anticipated movie of the year (out-shined only by the behemoth that is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), has finally been released. Under the direction of perhaps one of my favorite writer/directors, Joss Whedon, my expectations for the film were tempered only by some […]
The Cabin in the Woods with Søren and Ari
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 The first 5 minutes of The Cabin in the Woods is a perfectly written hybrid of idle dialogue, sudden shock, and scantily-clad females: […]
Søren’s Most Anticipated Films of 2012
Ari’s Most Anticipated Films of 2012
The world isn’t supposed to end until December 2012, right? Plenty of time to go to the movies. Here’s a list of my most anticipated films of 2012: 10. Django Unchained Tarantino’s latest. The film’s a Spaghetti Western revenge plot about a freed slave, but it gets a spot on this list for its cast alone, […]
