“Alien: Covenant” – a Muted Echo of a Once-Great Franchise

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The Alien franchise has been limping along since the early ‘90s, and a covenant with God herself can’t save it from the paucity of original thought on display in Ridley Scott’s latest shade of a film.  Alien: Covenant builds a great starting point, but squanders everything near the end of the first act, and it … Read more

Yay for Giant Hippo-Pig Trailers: Bong Joon-Ho’s “Okja”

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Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho is not subtle when it comes to the themes of his films, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Snowpiercer isn’t so much an allegory for class warfare – it is class warfare, just set on the science fiction environment of an ever-moving train.  The Host is the venerable monster-movie warning … Read more

The Time Has Come to Make a Choice: The Strong Volition of “The Matrix”

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The Matrix is replete with allusions to classic philosophical ideas.  The plot references Plato’s Cave and the world of forms, Descartes’ First Meditation and the evil demon, and Hilary Putnam’s “brain in a vat” scenario – all ruminations on the nature of reality and the possibility that we only perceive an illusion.  The film also … Read more

Clarice, Meet Dr. Lecter: How to Craft a Masterful Intro Scene

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One of the most enthralling sequences in The Silence of the Lambs is the first meeting between Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and it is a masterclass in visual storytelling.  This piece will analyze this entire sequence shot-by-shot,  explaining the cinematic techniques that director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto use to tell this … Read more

Was 1997 the Greatest Year for Science Fiction in Film?

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Most years have a few high-quality genre pieces to offer, some years see the release of a genre-defining film and a solid collection of supporting movies, and every now and then there are collisions where two absolute classics are released side-by-side (see:  1968, 1977, and 1982).  But, there’s nothing quite like what happened 20 years … Read more

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” – Definitely a Chapter from the Same Book

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Guardians of the Galaxy was always the most overtly comedic franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and Vol. 2 follows in those footsteps.  Most films in the MCU employ humor, but none are governed by the success of references, call-backs, meta-humor, and jokes quite like Guardians.  As a result, one’s appreciation for this sequel … Read more

Strong Talent Can’t Elevate the Shoddy “Miss Sloane”

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John Madden’s political thriller Miss Sloane is a contrived sledgehammer of a film.  It navigates a complex subject matter from the top of a soapbox, spouting ersatz-Sorkin dialogue at the top of its lungs.  Its near-infallible central character is always the smartest person in the room, except when she’s saved by the latest in a … Read more

“The Lost City of Z”: an Ode to Obsession

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There’s a wayward flavor to obsession, a feeling of being swept off one’s feet by some new passion.  In James Gray’s The Lost City of Z, the expedition that began as Percy Fawcett’s chance to restore glory to his family name morphs into a lifelong zeal for exploration an discovery.  Based on the book of … Read more