I paid attention to the little things in The Force Awakens. Some of these were visual — the small creature with eyes set apart like a hammerhead shark poking its head out of the sand, the vulturous creature picking at the remains of a ship as if it were a carcass. Others were musical, like […]
Debating Avengers: Age of Ultron with The Waffle Press
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 […]
Thibault Talks: U.S. Summer Box Office Tanks
Overview It is not an exaggeration to say that this 2014 U.S. summer box office was catastrophic in terms of both profit and attendance. May, ($1.23B, -15.7% compared to May 2013), June (~$994$, -19.2% compared to June 2013), and especially July (~$803M, -39.2% compared to July 2013) were all big disappointments for American studios. We did see a turnaround […]
Edge of Tomorrow Versus the World
You might remember an op-ed I published a few days ago in defense of Edge of Tomorrow‘s title. As I expected, not everyone agreed with me. In fact, my friend and podcasting veteran Teague Chrystie from Friends in your Head was so emphatic about his disagreement that he suggested we record a short podcast about the issue. You can listen […]
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 […]
Summer Box Office Saturated with Explosions
A decorated gladiator steps out into the sun, brandishing two swords while donning finely detailed armor. Around him, hundreds of men and women line the seats of a massive arena, wildly screaming his name. He walks forward to address his opponent, a Roman slave whose character design is the product of meticulous behind-the-scenes scrutiny. After […]
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 […]
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 […]
This Guy is Awesome
I love it when nerds do something creative with their time. So about a week ago, after seeing The Avengers, I found this awesome little clip online of some serious Iron Man cosplaying: It was brought to my attention that the guy who created the costume has in fact worked on recreating many of the other […]
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 […]
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, […]
