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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Film Icons Step Into the Limelight for 2013
2012 was a landmark year in many ways. With the release of The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Amazing Spider-Man, the industry saw the true power of the superhero genre as it established itself as the new Hollywood mainstay. Indie comedies like Safety Not Guaranteed and Your Sister’s Sister ruled the underground, while […]
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 […]
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
I was very excited coming out of the movie theater when I saw the first Sherlock Holmes starring the nearly-always likable Robert Downey, Jr. (Holmes) and Jude Law (Watson). Sure, the movie suffered from a lack of plot direction and overall muddled storyline, but I very much enjoyed the style of the film. While it […]
Iron Man
Iron Man stands in my mind as the greatest super hero film released thus far. With a phenomenal mix of fantastic acting, near-perfect special effects, humor, and story, this film simultaneously gave me hope that future Marvel movies might actually be good, and brought the wonderful Robert Downey, Jr. back into the limelight. As a […]