For the longest time, making a good movie based on a video game was one of the toughest nuts to crack in the entertainment industry. Part of the problem was that far too many tried to make a basic genre film within the universe of what was, at least for the time, a very limited … Continue reading Games of Thunder – Gran Turismo
Over the past few years there have been several family-friendly films about the bond between humans and their dogs. Each has its charms and shortcomings, but the basic theme that these movies try to get across for the sake of the youngest viewer is in how naturally loving a canine can be, and how we … Continue reading Reggie The Shunted – Strays
Over the last few years, Hollywood has had something of a long overdue reckoning when it comes to representation in media. While far from perfect, the necessary conversations and actions are underway to ensure that talented artists from all aspects of production are getting the opportunities to tell their stories and share their unique perspectives. … Continue reading Hombre Araña – Blue Beetle
There's a crucial lesson to be learned from The Last Voyage of the Demeter, the new horror movie based on Bram Stoker's original Dracula novel. It's not about ethics, morality, or even basic survival. No, more than anything, this film is a pristine example of how NOT to do an adaptation. From the very first … Continue reading I Want it to Make Sense – The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Arguably the most formulaic of film genres, it's rare when a romantic comedy reaches for something beyond the conventions of the style. Attractive people have a meet-cute, fall in love, have some third act conflict, and then reconcile for their version of a "happily ever after." There are plenty of movies that work within this … Continue reading Nigh Fidelity – Shortcomings
When the trailers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem first came out, I was a little bit skeptical, mostly because the 2007 animated film felt uninspired and later Michael Bay did his level best to destroy yet another beloved institution of my childhood. It had been a long time since the original TV cartoon … Continue reading Shell-tered Youth – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
This has not been a good year for horror films thus far. It's not that big of a deal, as there's usually one major genre that suffers a lapse in quality every year, but for 2023 it's been particularly grim. There is the odd bright spot, like Evil Dead Rise (which I didn't see, as … Continue reading The Hand of Fate – Talk to Me
Normally I'd begin this column with a statement about how August is essentially the second month of the year unofficially designated as a studio dumping ground. We're at the end of Blockbuster Season, which means most of the tentpole movies have had their moment in the spotlight - for better or worse - and that … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – August 2023
There have been a lot of movies over the last decade based on consumer products. Most of them are thinly-veiled, feature-length commercials. But every once in a while, a film breaks through and becomes an essential part of our cultural conversation, like The Lego Movie. We can safely add Greta Gerwig's Barbie to that short … Continue reading Life in Plastic – Barbie
Christopher Nolan has made his name as a filmmaker through two basic avenues. One is his Dark Knight trilogy of movies featuring Batman. The other is in complex narratives that play on the elasticity of cinema itself to tell high-concept stories out of sequence or in ways that mess with basic timeline structure (Memento, Inception, … Continue reading Theory and Praxis – Oppenheimer
I Actually Paid To See This 