The Mortal Kombat series created by Ed Boon and John Tobias managed to survive parental outrage over the violence, the destruction of arcades during the rise of at-home gaming, and even, remarkably, Annihilation (1997). Yet, even with its expansion of… Read More ›
What does it mean to live an honorable life? Is it honoring yourself? Honoring your community? Existing by a code? These may sound like old-fashioned queries, the sort of things that warriors or soldiers asked themselves when written by poets,… Read More ›
“No one wins a fight.” – Dalton in Road House. When Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino premiered their Nickelodeon program Avatar: The Last Airbender in 2005, there was likely little sense of what the response would be. On paper,… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: More than the previous film, Galaxy is filled with light designs that may prove triggering for photosensitive individuals; consider taking precautions before starting the film. In 2023, Illumination, with Nintendo as a partner, released The Super Mario Bros…. Read More ›
One: Never Underestimate Your Opponent. Expect the unexpected. Two: Take it outside. Three: Be nice. – Dalton’s three rules from Road House (1989) When it comes to DC Comics, there is an incredible pantheon of characters to pull from, each… Read More ›
2010’s Despicable Me introduced audiences to master villain Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell), his darling three adopted girls, and, most importantly, to the Minions. The all-yellow-bodied, seemingly indestructible, unserious, devoted assistants to Gru’s villainy took the world by storm and,… Read More ›
Lav Diaz (Venice 70: Future Reloaded), a director proclaimed as a strong practitioner of slow cinema, decided that, for his next film, he would bring his visual, hypnotic talents to the life of a legendary explorer. Part of The Criterion… Read More ›
“Funny thing is, you’re about 10 times more likely to get killed by a falling airplane-part than by a shark.” -Gi in Captain Planet and the Planeteers Things could be simpler if we wanted them to be. Folks could have… Read More ›
There are some films which come together and seem like a slam dunk yet fail to connect with audiences, while others are this mysterious combination of magic that, against all odds, finds its way both into audience’s hearts but also… Read More ›
There are those among us who proudly describe themselves as “Amblin kids.” Sure, it’s a descriptor I’ve just made up, but if you grew up in the era of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Gremlins (1984), The Goonies (1985), Back to… Read More ›
Bear… bear… Big Bear… big bear chase meeeeeeee…! – Chet (John Candy) in The Great Outdoors In the modern era of comedy, there are few performers spoken of with the same reverence as John Candy. A Canadian actor and performer,… Read More ›
James Cameron has been living and operating within the fictional world of Pandora for decades now. Avatar (2009) began pre-production in the mid-aughts — although, it had been in development since 1994. The release of the second film, Avatar: The… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: The 4K UHD disc of Speed Racer includes the following warning that, “[t]his film may cause seizures in viewers susceptible to photosensitivity epilepsy.” “Get that weak shit off my track.” – Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer in Speed… Read More ›
For the last 34 years, the arcade sensation Mortal Kombat has lit up gamers in their quest to defeat the evil Shao Khan, emperor of Outworld, in his quest to claim Earthrealm for his own. Of course, one could side… Read More ›
Continuing a story is tricky enough without throwing in additional hurdles like cultural significance or an established long-running series. Anything established must be honored and, in so doing, can create limitations on what comes next. But that’s what co-writers/co-directors Gu… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: The climax of the film includes an extended sequence of flashing that may prove triggering for photosensitive individuals. Take precautions. Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That’s impossible. Instead … only try to realize the… Read More ›
Before comic films were cinematic, extended, or otherwise franchise driven, they were more often singular. It’s hard to believe given the proliferation of them today, however, before the 1990s, major studio cinematic comic adaptations were limited to Superman (1978) and… Read More ›
If you fell in love with the 2016 tv show Westworld and never saw the original movie that the show is based on, you’re definitely in for a wild wild west journey. Westworld (1973) is a mixed bag that mostly… Read More ›
“Sly fox, dumb bunny.” Just when you think that storytellers have mined all they can from the odd couple trope, co-writers Jared Bush (Encanto) and Phil Johnston (Wreck-It Ralph series) found a way to invigorate the concept by not only… Read More ›
Photosensitivity Warning: The final act of the film includes a sequence in which characters change colors to glow with a pulsating white light that may provide triggering for sensitive viewers. After it happens the first time, it’s easy to predict… Read More ›