The Muppets is an amazing attempt to bring the gang to the year 2011- so kids of another generation can associate the characters with the same love as folks my age. The film does just that, but it definitely calls out to the people who grew up with them in the first place.
Full Story »
If this movie doesn’t make you smile and put a skip in your step, check yourself for a metal endoskeleton because you’re probably a Terminator.
Full Story »
So, the holidays are coming up and as soon as we have churned our way through the ridiculous number of new DVD releases hitting the shelves at Christmas it’ll be time to start ordering buckets of popcorn and staking out our local cinema.
Full Story »
There are lots of reasons to love Captain Steve Rogers. Perhaps his greatest quality is his single-minded courage.
Full Story »
I don’t know anyone right now who has $45 to spend on a Muppets t-shirt made in China (or $180 for a Muppets button-up shirt for that matter), but Opening Ceremony has ‘em.
Full Story »
I think Bunraku came out of a discussion about who was more badass: Ron Perlman or Clancy Brown.
Full Story »
Lucas expects us to shell out almost $100 (after taxes) to buy something we already own in DVD format because of his Lucasing? “Oh it’s on Blu-Ray” That’s the default defense. And???
Full Story »
When I started working on this I got the weirdest little mind-worm — I started comparing the two principal actors to have played the titular barbarian (Arnold Schwarzenneger and Jason Momoa) to Van Halen frontmen David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar.
Full Story »
What was going to be a fairly average day of playing video games to forget about my current state of unemployment, actually turned into a pretty fantastic day of getting paid to talk about beer and going to see Attack the Block.
Full Story »
I’m hoping that with Captain America and the upcoming The Amazing Spider Man we can let the “origins of a hero” trope lie fallow for ten to twenty years. I would hate to see this being an overplayed trend, as sometimes audiences don’t need to know the full backstory of a protagonist. Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that’s the most intriguing.
Full Story »
With the exception of Batman, and then more by Nolan’s hand than by Burton’s, DC seems to continually miss the mark in making good film adaptations of their comics. What they lack is essentially a big picture that’s brought by greater editorial control of their property. Marvel did that, and their movies have been spectacular. DC doesn’t seem cognizant of that fact and as a result, their films suffer, as lack of caring rolls downhill into a director’s lap.
Full Story »
I was restless thinking about Harry, Hermione and Ron and their story. They had become friends to me, over the course of these 14 years. I have actual friends I’ve known for less time, and so much happened to me, as I, like those 3 wizards, grew up and was forced to face the hard realities that life inevitably brings. I dreamt images of the film, the films, the books. I awoke still restless and also exhausted, not just physically, but mentally, I am struggling with saying goodbye.
Full Story »
When I first saw Star Trek IV, it didn’t occur to me that I’d one day be watching it on a computer the size of a book. At the time, it seemed far more likely that I’d grow out of my awkward face and baby fat – as Mom promised – and be married to Jon Bon Jovi.
Full Story »
Following the news lately, I got the impression that someone was using They Live as a blueprint.
Full Story »
Epic. That’s the first word that comes to mind, for the Harry potter series as a whole, but even more for the film version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 in particular. It’s a very different feeling from the other films, to be sure, but it’s also, I feel, the natural result of the pervious films’ progressions, as was the case in the books. They have gone from the whimsy of childhood to the heavy responsibility of adulthood, and it’s wholly appropriate that this film’s tone reflects that. It’s rated PG-13 for a reason: while the films have garnered that rating since Prisoner of Azkaban, this one has earned it more the previous installments.
Full Story »
Green Lantern was stupid like it was written by 12 year olds in the 1990s. And not even clever 12 year olds with big imaginations who understood adversity. Stupid like Johnny, my middle school nemesis and perfect-haired surfer hero to the 8th grade, wrote it. I can tell because Hal Jordan’s only fault is that he’s so awesome and the villain is a weak, ugly genius.
Full Story »
For several movies, Wolverine was the only mutant who got to shine. All the other mutants were so small scale on what they were shown doing: Iceman made an ice wall. Storm made it foggy in San Francisco. Magneto moved a chair. In First Class, everyone is doing awesome stuff all the time.
Full Story »
