Review: The Wolverine

How fair is it to review one film while comparing it to another?  It would be easy to simply say that The Wolverine is better than its predecessor (2009’s terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and leave it at that.  But that would be grading on the steepest of curves, and would unfortunately give The Wolverine too much credit.  It’s true that it is a better film than Origins, which wasted an otherwise interesting character in boring backstory surrounded with a mess of jumbled X-Men mythology.  The Wolverine is undoubtedly more interesting and enjoyable, but for me it’s perhaps the final nail in the coffin for X-Men spinoffs.

The Wolverine opens in 1945 with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.   Continue reading

Ellen Degeneres returning to host Oscars!

Ellen hosting the 79th Academy Awards

So the news today is that Ellen Degeneres will be hosting the 86th Oscars in March.  I’m extremely pleased by this, especially after the bizarre sexism from Seth MacFarlane last year.  Ellen last hosted in 2007 when The Departed (ugh) won best picture.  I remember enjoying her hosting job, though I don’t recall any particular gags or jokes*, but that’s never been Ellen’s style.  If you’ve ever watched her stand-up, her gift is telling funny stories instead of jokes.  I’ve always been a huge fan of hers, and she has a gift for being warm while also bitingly hilarious, all as she maintains a constant level of entertainment.  She may not hit the highs that some other hosts, but she rarely has the lows either. Continue reading

Friday Favorites: Favorite Scene – Ghostbusters

Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

Ghostbusters came out the year I was born (which was a good year for movies), but I didn’t get a chance to see it on the big screen until 2011.  I was amazed, but not completely surprised, at the reaction from the crowd, who clearly loved it.  I knew it was one of my favorites, but I didn’t realize that the jokes were still funny to everyone else.  And while there are many things to love about Ghostbusters, for me the highlight of the film is this: Continue reading

This is not the Joss Whedon article I intended to write…

I had every intention of writing an article exploring Joss Whedon’s treatment of sex in his various works, and then I started doing some research online.  When I write articles like the one I was envisioning, I worry about unintentionally copying someone else’s ideas, so do a bit of searching to make sure that I still have something new to say.  Sometimes I find that someone else has put out an essay that says exactly what I wanted, only better, and I’ll simply abandon my idea.  Other times, I’ll find an article arguing the opposite of what I want to say, but in a way that allows me to write my opinions as a rebuttal (this worked really well for my Star Wars prequel analysis).  It’s important to read a variety of opinions, because challenging ourselves is the best way to grow, both as a writer/blogger and as a person.

But something different happened to me when I started searching for articles about Joss Whedon and sex.  I still have a lot to say, and maybe I’ll write that analysis soon, but for the moment I’m giving up on it.   Continue reading

Trailer Tuesday: Austenland

Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.

Jane Austen has been in the news a lot lately (see the horror that is this and the awesomeness that is this), so it’s fitting that Austenland is due to be released next month.  Take a look at the trailer, and read on for my thoughts:

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Review: RED 2

So far this year, Bruce Willis has starred in two action sequels which take place in Russia.  The first, A Good Day to Die Hard, was a joyless mess of a film to which I gave an overly generous review.  It wasn’t bad, per se, but it was bland and uninteresting, and seemed to have no concept of the films that had come before it.  The second, RED 2, fares considerably better, staying true to the spirit of the original while adding new characters and despite having a new director.

After the events of the first film, Frank (Bruce Willis) is trying to settle back into the quiet routine of retired life, along with his girlfriend Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker).  He hasn’t killed anyone in months, and the two spend their days shopping for deals at Costco.   Continue reading

John Williams Returning to Star Wars!

John Williams Autograph

From my autograph collection.

As I’m sure you have read by now, John Williams is returning to compose the score for Star Wars: Episode VII.  This is, of course, fantastic news.  When J.J. Abrams was announced as director, many people assumed that his longtime collaborator, Michael Giacchino would do the score.  This would have been a suitable second choice, as Giacchino is really an excellent composer, and seems to have been very heavily influenced by Williams, but nothing can compare to having Williams back.  He recorded this interview for the Star Wars convention at which his return was announced.  Check it out: Continue reading

Friday Favorites: Favorite Moment – Pitch Perfect

Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

I’m a big fan of movies that manage to capture the entire film in just one scene, especially when it is done in a way that doesn’t scream, “This is what the movie is about,” in an annoyingly obvious way.  Hook is by far the best example of this, but discussing that scene is an essay for another time, so instead I present you with a similar scene from Pitch Perfect.  Take a look:

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Poster: Saving Mr. Banks

I love movie posters, I even have a frame in my office at home that I use to rotate posters that catch my eye (it currently is displaying one from Skyfall).  Today, the Disney Parks Blog exclusively debuted the new poster for Saving Mr. Banks.  I looked at the trailer just last week, but check out the poster: Continue reading

Trailer Tuesday: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Welcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies, since I’ve always found them to be endlessly fascinating.

This weekend at Comic-con saw the release of a new trailer for Catching Fire, the upcoming sequel to last year’s The Hunger Games.  I covered the first trailer back in April, but watch the new one and then read on for my thoughts:

We get a lot of new footage in this trailer, mixed in with some things we’ve seen before, so let’s take it from the top. Continue reading