Long-Form Film Criticism and Fiction Writing by Derek Jacobs
Super-Heading for all kinds of movie news.
The first full trailer for the next entry in Daniel Craig’s James Bond begins with Ralph Fiennes’ M chiding Bond for carrying out an unauthorized operation in Mexico City. Fiennes stands behind his desk and towers over a seated, subservient Bond asking, “Mexico City: What were you doing there?” We cut to the event in … Read more
The Revenant has been anticipated since April of 2014, when Alejandro G. Iñárritu announced that he had started to work on the project with Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role. The story was to be based on a novel of the same name detailing the true events of a fur-trapper on the American frontier at … Read more
So I definitely found all the fun in the DCCU, and it looks like I was right – it is going to come from the villains. Look no further than the recently released trailer for Suicide Squad, where I finally get the sense that there is more to the DCCU than brooding, gritty darkness. Somehow, … Read more
It is no secret that the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) has darker ambitions than its brightly colored and quip-filled Marvel counterpart. Since the DCEU is late to the shared universe party, they are tasked with differentiating themselves, and if Man of Steel and the teaser trailer for the follow-up Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice … Read more
The rumor mill has been churning of late with regards to the standalone Batman film. The expected timeline for new Batman appearances in the DC Cinematics Universe (DCCU) are actually fairly complex, though. Of course, the first look we get at the rebooted Batman with Ben Affleck will come next March 26th with the release … Read more
In an Empire exclusive interview at Comic-Con preview night, Duncan Jones revealed that his oft-delayed Indie sci-fi film Mute may finally have its shot. Jones has previously created two of the best science fiction films of the new millennium in 2009’s Moon and 2011’s Source Code. Both of those films were pleasant surprises. Source Code … Read more
The Iron Giant was perhaps the last masterpiece of American hand-drawn animation. The film was the directorial debut of Brad Bird, and may be the best entry in his filmography to this date, despite how crazy that sounds. When it was released in 1999, I was not aware of it and missed seeing it in … Read more
Today, an article in Variety details the struggle to prevent far-right wing elements of French politics from stamping Gaspar Noé’s Love with an Under-18 rating (our equivalent of NC-17 in the States). The piece is articulate and informative, and likely portends the difficulties that Love will face in other nations as well. If you’re at … Read more
Over the last week or so, details regarding a pair of space adventure sequels have started rolling in, and while there isn’t much to interpret as of yet, I do think it is interesting to consider the choices being made by these two franchises. I am speaking, of course, of the Star Trek franchise, and … Read more
If you’ll recall, a couple of weeks ago The Martian was moved up over two months for an October 2nd release. There, it will compete with the Robert Zemekis film The Walk and Brian Helgeland’s Legend, starring Tom Hardy (twice). And, while we’ve had a couple of different looks at The Walk (which I always … Read more