It’s almost impossible not to be cynical about the fact that we’re now experiencing our third reboot of Spider-Man in 15 years. This could have easily been a soulless cash grab designed to market the character to a younger generation with its youthful cast and high school setting. Instead, Marvel has once again created, ahem, […]
Film
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Crossing Streams
Will Netflix save cinema?
This year was the first time a film from streaming giant Netflix played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. As soon as the Netflix logo appeared, the notoriously tough crowd began to boo and hiss without having seen a frame of the actual film. Audiences at Cannes like to consider themselves film purists, but […]
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Little Yellow People
Laughing at the Despicables
I don’t wanna be that guy complaining that movies should teach my hypothetical children something other than gibberish, but here I am, asking you politely to get off my lawn and take your Despicables with you. Amazingly enough, “Despicable Me 2” and “Minions” were both the highest grossing animated films of 2013 and 2015, respectively. […]
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Bay to the Future
Another summer, another Transformers
It’s 484 AD and a drunken Merlin (the always-perfect Stanley Tucci) rides his horse toward a massive battlefield to meet with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Before the battle, he forges an alliance with a hidden group of Transformers that combines into a massive flying dragon and turns the tide of […]
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Looking Out For a Hero
Sam Elliott Gets a Chance to Shine
Is Sam Elliott a national treasure? Are we comfortable as a society giving him that honor, or is that something we collectively decide posthumously? I grew up watching the off-brand Sam Elliott Westerns such as “The Shadow Riders,” “The Hi-Lo Country,” and “Conagher.” Sure, it might be stuff like “Tombstone” and “Road House” that made […]
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Fighting for Peace
Find the “Radiance in Resistance”
To get into a discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to open oneself to a myriad of opinions and emotions. Everyone has a strong view of what should happen and is expected to pick a side without much room for nuance or the multiple shades of gray that make up such a complicated and heart- […]
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Driving Me Crazy
Cars 3 is a drag….race
I think my favorite thing about the third movie in the “Cars” franchise isn’t the story, characters or animation, but the fact that it doesn’t acknowledge the direly terrible second movie at all. I’m a diehard Pixar fanatic (does that make me a “Pixiehead?”), so I’ll go see their latest offering no matter what, but […]
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Cruise Control
The Mummy Unravels Itself
Love him or hate him, Tom Cruise is very good at committing himself. To solid movies, to dangerous stunt work and lots of intense running, but most importantly, to entertaining us the best he possibly can. I usually try to separate the art from the artist (since I still enjoy the films of Woody Allen […]
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Who Run the World?
A blockbuster superhero movie with a female in the lead. Finally.
“Be careful in the world of men, Diana. They do not deserve you.” For the last 20 years, Hollywood has made several half-assed attempts at making a “Wonder Woman” movie. At different times throughout the years, Sandra Bullock, Lucy Lawless, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Mariah Carey were all slated to play the Amazonian princess. No one […]
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Johnny’s Depths
The latest “Pirates” finds new lows
I don’t like Johnny Depp anymore. We’ll always have “Edward Scissorhands” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” but his schtick hasn’t just gotten old, it’s become a bit unbearable. Not even taking into account his tabloid-fodder personal life, he’s become a caricature of what he once was. The thing that used to make Depp […]