Mar 16, 2013
NOTE: some spoilers, sexual assault triggers I went out last night to see the Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a cute little movie about a couple old-school buddy magicians dueling with Criss-Angel-stand-in Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) for fame and fortune. It was all right. I’ve lost my patience with people who hate everything. It had some funny moments, and everyone...
Nov 14, 2012
Note: Somewhat spoilery, but nothing you wouldn’t guess at if you read the comic. Watching Dredd was like stepping into a time machine that took me back to the 80’s and the gloriously apocalyptic, overpopulated, crime-ridden society that the media of the time all insisted we were headed toward. There are all sorts of theories about why this future never...
Nov 12, 2012
Spoilers: The hostages get away! The boat sinks! Etc. When I saw the first trailer for Argo, I guffawed at the implausibility of the entire movie. CIA creates SF movie ruse to smuggle people out of Iran? Whatever, Hollywood. I figured it was just a good excuse for the media to fuel itself up for war with Iran (because we don’t have enough wars! And oh, those...
Nov 1, 2012
Note: Post contains ALL THE SPOILERS for this film. The shift to gritty fantasy over the last couple decades has been a long time coming. I’d argue that those of us who grew up watching heroes like Snake Pliskin and Mad Max and Ellen Ripley but reading about smarmy do-good boys with birthmarks and wilting heroines were inspired to spice up the old...
Sep 10, 2012
No, that post title is not a directive, that’s the name of a movie I finally ponied up to watch my last night at Wellspring before I passed out. I’d been putting off this movie for a good long while, primarily because I heard about it not long after some nut job shot up a movie theater IRL, and there’s nothing like IRL violence to put you off lazily...
Jul 10, 2012
Note: this is a film that is about violence against women. Triggers ahoy. Long-time readers know that I get really pissed off with creative work that employs random violence against women as some kind of lazy shorthand. Creators do this for all types of reasons. You don’t have to work too hard at characterizing your bad guy if you just have him randomly rape...
Jun 11, 2012
NOTE: This post assumes you have already watched Prometheus, so is full of SPOILERS. In the world of Prometheus, we all came from white dudes, who went around seeding the universe with their magical, life-giving sperm. It was a fine feat those boys managed, creating whole worlds all on their own. I can’t help but wonder if it’s the secret dream of the...
