Love Letters and Angry Rants of a Devoted Cinephile
The concept of a prequel is always difficult to justify. What story value can be gained by going back in time rather than continuing forward? The ones that work (The Godfather Part II, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me) succeed by not only filling in the gaps of the material that came before it, but... Continue Reading →
Frank Herbert's classic Dune novel from 1965 was called unfilmable. Which is a ridiculous thing to say. You know how many books have been called unfilmable: The Lord of the Rings, Anna Karenina, The Lovely Bones (okay, that one wasn't good, but I still hold that it could have been adapted well). Given David Lynch's... Continue Reading →
A career retrospective of the great theater/film director.
The fact that this movie exists at all is a shock. A top-tier corporate product with an empowering message of female individuality created by one of indie cinema's best auteurs? How did this get greenlit? That Barbie has become a cultural phenomenon is a testament to the themes present in its self-reflective narrative. It's a... Continue Reading →
The idea of turning Evil Dead into a franchise has always been a little ludicrous. The first few movies were just Sam Raimi and best bud Bruce Campbell goofing off, making crazy set pieces and cramming in as much bravado and blood as possible. They've never been box office successes; why create a cinematic universe?... Continue Reading →
Baz Luhrmann has a polarizing filography; some love him, some hate him. I'm squarely in the middle. I don't know if I could say that any Luhrmann film is good; they are all entertaining however. From the melodramatic love ballads in Moulin Rouge to the inordinate ingenuity of labeling a gun as sword in Romeo... Continue Reading →
The very fact that the reason The Rings of Power exists is because Jeff Bezos was jealous that he didn't have his own Games of Thrones automatically tarnishes it. A truly rousing show would have squelched the ego-driven narcissism of the project; however, the result is a mixed bag. Created by Patrick McKay and John... Continue Reading →
Neil Gaiman's The Sandman graphic novel series is a deep, intensive, highly-imaginative show, one that changed the nature of graphic storytelling. Any attempts to adapt it to the screen (big or small) were going to prove problematic. There is so much scope and artistry that translating it into another medium means changing things here, adding... Continue Reading →
The Fantastic Beasts franchise has been plagued almost from its inception: from JK Rowling's transphobia to Ezra Miller's indiscretions to Johnny Depp's malfeasance, it seems like the films can't catch a break. Add in the fact that they are not very good, and you simply compound the problem. The latest (last?) film of the series... Continue Reading →
With a runtime of almost three hours, there's a lot to unpack in The Batman. And it nearly runs the full gamut of film criticism, from good movie to great movie to bad movie to what-the-heck movie. It's an interesting experience, one that is sure to please, infuriate and confound Batman fans and the general... Continue Reading →
Hardwired for Film 