After the massive commercial success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie three years ago, a sequel was a guarantee, and with Nintendo's massive marketing machine behind the follow-up, it was impossible that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie wouldn't also be a smash hit. However, just like its predecessor, the critical response is miles away from … Continue reading Plug and Play – The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Life is, if nothing else, a continuous learning experience. That old adage of picking up new information every day might be trite, but it's also extremely accurate. For example, I just found out today that I've been doing the title of this column wrong for all these years. I'm supposed to capitalize "Is" because despite … Continue reading This Film Is Not Yet Watchable – March 2025
By most measures, this year's Oscar Blitz has been smoother than usual. I've kept ahead of schedule on the videos, I don't find myself scrambling for things to write each night, and since I don't have a gig at the moment, I'm not stressing myself out pulling double (or triple) duty. However, there was one … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part Four – More Animation (and an Apology)
First things first. Before we get into our usual deluge of potential cinematic shit, a bit of good news. If you've been reading this blog with any regularity, you know that I've been collaborating with my friends at No Rest for the Weekend and Behind the Rabbit Productions for the last few years, sharing some … Continue reading This Film is Not Yet Watchable – May 2024
Throughout the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there have been two subseries that have been my absolute favorites, namely Black Panther and Guardians of the Galaxy. The two are vastly different in terms of tone, story, and character, but at their absolute core, they kept the same high points throughout. More than anything else, … Continue reading Rocket’s Man – Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3
A programming note before I get started. The blog is going on a little bit of a hiatus for reasons that will become apparent very quickly. I'll be stepping aside for a couple of weeks, during which time I have no plans to see any new movies or post any content. It's my hope to … Continue reading The Ultimate Bonus Level – The Super Mario Bros. Movie
I like to think that, overall, 2022 was a better year than 2021. There were some down moments, to be sure - Billie Eilish won an Oscar before Lin-Manuel Miranda, I had to move my mother into hospice, Republicans retook the House, basically every celebrity we still cared about died, AMC charged us more money … Continue reading The Best (and Worst) of 2022
Despite my inordinate amount of snark and cynicism, I'm being completely honest when I say that I want to see the positive in just about everything. Even for a film like Jurassic World Dominion, the teaser of which I named as "The Worst Trailer in the World... This Month," one that I knew based on … Continue reading Insert Extinction Joke Here – Jurassic World Dominion
Since the premiere of Toy Story some 25 years ago, Pixar films have fallen into three distinct groups. At the top are the movies that simply blow us away, introducing wondrous new ideas and themes to complement the ever-evolving animation technology. These are the all-time greats like WALL-E, Up, The Incredibles, and Inside Out. On the opposite end of the … Continue reading He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother – Onward
Okay folks, I've waited long enough. I'm not going to "spoil" anything, because you've most likely already either seen the movie ($1.2 billion worldwide opening), have already been spoiled (seriously, LeSean McCoy, WTF Shady?), or simply just don't care. I will discuss plot elements, and I will reveal one late item that is already public … Continue reading Marvel Plays Their Greatest Hits – Avengers: Endgame
I Actually Paid To See This 