“Another year, another slate of movie releases in the history books, and with it a bevy of new characters gracing the big screen. Just like making the movies themselves, though, making a truly memorable character is a major challenge. You have to get them right on the page before you can cast them, for one … Continue reading
Boy, 2015 has been a fabulous year for film. This, of course, is true of most years, so long as you are willing to step outside of your comfort zone and seek out releases from off the beaten path. But it’s especially true of 2015, which doesn’t require viewers to stray too far from their … Continue reading
“The word “infidelity” likely conjures very specific images in the minds of most; a young couple entangled in a forbidden tryst, lonesome spouses finding succor in the arms of another person, egotists two-timing their partners in hotels for the sheer thrill of it. But we’re just as capable of emotional betrayals as carnal liaisons, of … Continue reading
“Fair warning: You may want to precede your first viewing of Japanese artist-filmmaker crossover wunderkind Takashi Murakami’s Jellyfish Eyes by reading the essay Glen Helfand has penned for Criterion’s Blu-ray release. If you like to walk on the wild side, go right ahead, check out the movie before Helfand, but you’re just increasing the odds that … Continue reading
“Is this whole virus/vaccine plot device played out? Does boiling down a character’s super powers to nothing more than an airborne infectious agent rob them both of their dramatic oomph? Back in the day, Blade (incidentally the Marvel film that laid out the groundwork for the rise of comic book films through the aughts and … Continue reading
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens just came out this past Friday, so you’re probably sick to death of seeing the word “spoilers” bumped around on the Internet like a pop culture volleyball. That being said, it applies very much to Ash vs. Evil Dead’s most recent episode, which ends with a nasty shocker that can … Continue reading
“‘Looks can be deceiving,’ says Michael Madsen to Kurt Russell upon first introduction in The Hateful Eight. No four words could be more appropriate to the moment, or to the movie: Russell’s character, a bounty hunter named John Wayne Ruth, is distrusting by nature, even more so because he has a prisoner named Daisy Domergue … Continue reading
“…well, that got out of hand quickly. Nobody would ever mistake Jessica Jones for a planner. That’s not to say she is incapable of planning; for reference, see her nearly successful joint bid at capturing Kilgrave with Simpson in Trish back in “AKA The Sandwich Saved Me.” Jessica is smart enough to put together a … Continue reading
“What gift should you buy for the Diehard-obsessed NYPD detective who has everything? How about this: don’t buy him a gift at all, just let him wander into a real-life Diehard situation so that he can live out his John McClane fantasy. By the time “Yippie Kayak” ends, you half-expect someone (probably Boyle) involved in … Continue reading
“If you’re watching Ash vs. Evil Dead, Starz’s excellent revival of Sam Raimi’s iconic Evil Deadfranchise, you probably initially got into it the for love of Bruce Campbell. There’s no getting around it—Ash vs. Evil Dead draws a really specific crowd, comprised chiefly of people who spent the 90’s ranting about boomsticks and demanding sugar … Continue reading
“Last year, animation distributor GKIDS managed to score two nominations in the AMPAS’ Best Animated Feature Film category: Tom Moore’s Song of the Sea and Isao Takahata’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya. By contrast, their 2015 slate looks less prestigious, with two mixed bags in Extraordinary Tales andKahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, plus the good but … Continue reading
“Let’s start off by facing facts and talking spoilers: if you’re a longtime Evil Dead fan, and if you know this franchise inside and out, then you’re probably feeling a little bit jittery at Ruby’s unexpected resurrection. By “unexpected” we mean “totally expected,” mind, because there’s no way that Ash vs. Evil Dead could cast … Continue reading
“Well, now, Kilgrave has set out quite the homecoming for Jessica, hasn’t he? That house he snagged at the end of “AKA You’re a Winner!”—he’s done it up just like she remembers it, every last detail painstakingly researched and set in place to make Jessica feel more comfortable. The security guard is a new addition, … Continue reading
“Finding good reference points for Jessica Jones outside of the obvious is a bit tricky. Yes, the show has very clear noir roots (or neo-noir, for all the pedants out there); sure, Krysten Ritter’s role suggests shades of Veronica Mars. There are even a few brushstrokes of Demme and Fincher in here, too, exhibited in … Continue reading
“The first half of The Muppets’ premiere season has had its ups, downs, and growing pains. In that respect, it’s not unlike any other new television series, but most new television series don’t have decades of established characters and character relationships to draw on, for crafting plots or telling stories. There’s nothing wrong with The … Continue reading
“In the Heart of the Sea is a movie with an identity problem. It’s also a movie with an acting problem, a staging problem, a plot problem, a handful of FX problems and a narrative framework problem. Did Ron Howard learn nothing from Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby? Apparently, the takeaway from that film is … Continue reading
“Everything’s been coming up Rosa lately, hasn’t it? It’s been a few episodes since she broke up with Marcus and subsequently broke down with Holt, and only a couple since Terry taught her a valuable lesson in compassion and forgiveness, despite a cavalcade of oopsies and screw-ups; after the season’s decidedly Rosa-light first half, she’s … Continue reading
“And here it is: The episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead that Ashley Williams’ diehard fanbase has been waiting for. Sure, the series started off with a bang, setting Ash back to work messing up Deadites and protecting all that is good and living from all that is evil and, well, not living. But past … Continue reading
“Don’t let the title of Paolo Sorrentino’s new film fool you: he’s playing coy.Youth is not about young people at all, but rather a pair of sad old wrinklies who sit around at a spa mourning the loss of their youth, as well as the divisions between parents and their children, the death of the … Continue reading
“We knew it had to happen. We knew, as soon as Jessica Jones illustrated Jessica’s role in the death of Luke’s wife, that her unwilling complicity in the tragedy would come to light sooner than later. That’s why, after all, she has been dutifully avoiding Luke for the last few episodes, and why she cut … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 