From a certain point of view, individualism is the same as conformity. They might clash in their mission, but are otherwise simply a uniform someone wears in order to identify themselves. Got green hair made into spikes? Listen to antiestablishment… Read More ›
After their first appearance in DC Comics’ “The Brave and the Bold” issue 25 in 1959, the subversive military group known as Task Force X has known many members over its lengthy run. It’s not just because the missions they… Read More ›
You don’t need a degree in film studies to make an educated guess about when a movie was made, or to at least place it within the right decade. It’s easy to recognize specific cinematic styles and themes from each… Read More ›
What defines “personhood”? This is a complex question that gets debated quite a bit, specifically in regard to pre-birth healthcare. Is it from the moment of cell division, the presence of a heartbeat, or the moment a life reaches prime… Read More ›
I don’t think anyone would argue that times are now (March 2020 – now, August 2021) and the foreseeable future are rife with change. To have gone from a lifestyle where one could go as they pleased to having to… Read More ›
When we talk about strange and mysterious subjects that we’re nowhere close to understanding, like unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, it’s more useful to pose open-ended questions than to try and pinpoint definite answers. Asking… Read More ›
In this life there are few things worse than being misunderstood, to possess the feeling that those around you can’t see about you what you see in yourself. This schism between social reflection and personal identity has been the source… Read More ›
When it comes to selling movies, there’s nothing better than a well-known IP. Audiences already possess a connection with it and it makes selling it even easier for the filmmakers. There’s less risk here as most of the work is… Read More ›
2018’s horror thriller A Quiet Place is one of the bigger surprises of 2018 not because it was actor John Krasinski’s second time in the director’s chair, but because it used the conventions of horror to tell a compelling and… Read More ›
Inspiration can strike just about anywhere. Maybe it’s in the silence of doing nothing; the mind unobstructed by screens, music, or other noise becomes able to roam freely through the possibilities. Other times, inspiration comes from a question you ask… Read More ›
When it comes to a certain kind of film, audiences almost always know what they’re in for based on who’s distributing it. Arthouse drama or fantasy? The mind goes to A24. Family-friendly in live-action or animation? First thought: Walt Disney… Read More ›
“I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never gonna keep me down” – Chumbawumba The first installment in the Fear Street trilogy of Netflix films was a loving, if not sometimes heavy-handed homage to the resurgence… Read More ›
Storytelling is all about execution. You can have the most fascinating, compelling, edge-of-your-seat concept, but, if the execution flounders, nothing else matters. Take the story about the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo which saw the introduction of volleyball as an… Read More ›
Mixed media films are not particularly unique in and of themselves, but, when done well, they add an element of otherworldliness or imagination to the story. The rotoscoping in Waking Life (2001) empowers the scene with Timothy “Speed” Levitch to… Read More ›
When it comes to self-discovery, there is no one right path, no universal means for those who walk this earth to become comfortable with themselves. This is the struggle, the burden we all share, whether we’ll admit it or not…. Read More ›
The last year or so has seen sequels to long-ago films released — Bad Boys for Life (2020), Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) — and we’ve still got Top Gun: Maverick (2021) and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) still to… Read More ›
After a strong, but not mind-blowing first installment with Fear Street Part 1: 1994 last week, Leigh Janiak and Netflix’s unique approach to a horror trilogy based on R.L. Stine’s young adult novels adapted as hard-R slashers had decent-sized shoes… Read More ›
Immigrant stories are treated as all-to-common and extraordinary in the same breath, especially in the United States and Canada. The majority of people who live in both countries did not originate there and each possess a legacy of doing terrible… Read More ›
Though the highest grossing films in Malaysia mostly come from the international market, one shouldn’t discount the country for its own cinematic successes. There’s docudrama The Big Durian (2003), the first Malaysian film to screen at the Sundance Film Festival,… Read More ›
There are some things that just work better on Netflix. For as much as some films like The Old Guard and The Midnight Sky practically beg to be seen on a big screen, the streaming giant does offer films and… Read More ›