Introduction It’s been 7 years since the release of my favorite film of 2018, Paddington 2. It is, in my opinion, one of the best films of the 2010s and leaves a daunting task in following it up. It has a lot going against it, unfortunately. A sequel that comes out 7 years after the [...]
Introduction Turning pre-teen graphic novels into films has certainly been a mixed bag. One of my daughters is in the perfect age range for these, having gone through phases for both Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Both of those theatrical adaptations were hard for me to watch (although I think Captain Underpants [...]
Let’s face it: 2024 has been a GREAT year for movies. Every time I saw a great movie, I thought to myself, “the movies are back, baby!” Of course, we are still approximately 15% lower in total box office revenue than last year. But I think the worst of is behind us as the studios [...]
Introduction If 2014’s movie adaptation of Into the Woods was your introduction to the actual musical, you were likely disappointed. For some reason Disney thought it would be great for their brand to have a musical that uses fairy tales as a metaphor for the hard parts of growing up and parenting. They also left [...]
Introduction I am a man who, for better or worse, has to categorize films. My categories do often include genre, but they also transcend that. For example, Red One has many similarities to another film, Red Notice. They both star Dwayne Johnson with at least one another blockbuster friendly actor. They both were meant for [...]
Introduction Robotic cinema has had an interesting ride over the years. These films and TV shows are usually used to explore one of three themes. We might see how robots will bring the demise of humanity (Terminator, I Robot). Or the robots might be a stand in for how we as a society deal with [...]
Introduction There’s no doubt that the Transformers film franchise has been a bit of a mixed bag. I adored the first one and liked Revenge of the Fallen. Also, I consider Bumblebee to be just a hair short of being a masterpiece of storytelling. I wasn’t excited for the new prequel film that they announced, [...]
Introduction Ron Howard has had a very varied career. Starting out as a child actor on "The Andy Griffith Show," he eventually gained acclaim and stardom as Steve Bolander in American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973) and Richie Cunningham in "Happy Days." Then his directing career started shortly thereafter but didn't achieve blockbuster success until 1983's Splash. Since [...]
Introduction There are lots of films that are political metaphors (including some this year). Some are more successful than others, with the most successful probably being the Hunger Games films. However, they usually have one thing in common: they come from a coastal, left of center perspective. Twisters is different in this regard; in that [...]
Introduction The true story sports drama is a tried-and-true genre, with Disney being the most prolific. Starting with Cool Runnings (Jon Turteltaub, 1993), they have released them regularly as part of their theatrical slate. These films often make my top ten films of the year, mostly because of how inspiring they are. I think most [...]
