6 days agoFamily Feuds — Shazam! Fury of the GodsI really liked the first Shazam! movie from a few years ago. It was delightfully low stakes, Zachary Levi was tremendous as the titular original Captain Marvel, and honestly it was nice to see one of these superhero movies set in Philadelphia and largely not succumbing to cheap jokes and…7 min read7 min read
Mar 12Hacking It — Operation Fortune: Ruse de GuerreMost of the time, when a film is pulled from a studio’s release schedule, it’s because the movie either isn’t finished and won’t be on time, or it’s incredibly bad, necessitating a new date in order to let it quietly die alongside much stronger competition at the box office. Sometimes…8 min read8 min read
Mar 5Out of the Shadows — Creed IIIMore than anything else in Creed III, this latest entry in the Rocky film series (notably the first where Sylvester Stallone doesn’t appear, serving only in a Producer role) emphasizes the idea of casting aside the shadows of the past. Whether it’s through personal healing, confrontation, or taking the reins…8 min read8 min read
Feb 20The Centennial — MarloweDebuting on the festival circuit last year before getting its theatrical release this week, Marlowe is the 100th feature film for one of cinema’s greats, Liam Neeson. And it would seem that director Neil Jordan (who previously worked with Neeson in 1996 with Michael Collins) has taken the occasion as…5 min read5 min read
Feb 20Pick a Damn Lane! — Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaIn the vast and infinite incompetence, er, wisdom of Kevin Feige, the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are now canonically and collectively referred to as “The Infinity Saga.” Phase Four, which began with Black Widow and will continue through Phase Six, is called “The Multiverse Saga.” Now…9 min read9 min read
Feb 6A Plague on this House — Knock at the CabinWhen I saw Old a couple years ago, I commented on the fact that M. Night Shyamalan had a solid idea on his hands that could have been insanely compelling, but that almost all of the fun and suspense of the film was lost because of his over-reliance on twist…8 min read8 min read
Feb 5Finding Your Strength — Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep NightThe previous entry in the Sword Art Online film series began the cinematic adaptation of the “Progressive” spinoff light novels, where franchise creator Reki Kawahara began a more detailed retconning of the main story, which originally jumped from Floor 1 of the floating castle Aincrad inside the titular virtual reality…7 min read7 min read
Jan 28Oscar Blitz 2023 — The HubWell folks, it’s time. The nominations are out, the vast majority of the films have been viewed, and I’ve gotten my lovely little tuxedo t-shirt out of the closet. The Oscar Blitz for 2023 has begun! There are going to be a couple changes to the coverage this year. First…4 min read4 min read
Jan 27Like, Follow, and Find My Mom — MissingBack in 2018, I named Aneesh Chaganty’s debut, Searching, as one of my favorite films of the year. John Cho’s lived-in, tense performance as a man looking for his lost daughter through the voyeuristic framing device of using only his computer screen was compelling on a number of levels, and…7 min read7 min read
Jan 21The Stand — Saint OmerThe best moments of Alice Diop’s narrative feature debut, Saint Omer, come when her avatar, Rama (Kayije Kagame) is forced to reconcile the parallels in her own life with that of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda), who’s fighting for her life in a court of law. Heavily based on the real-life…7 min read7 min read
