Let me take you to the future of watching movies at home. Continue reading
Tagged with fantasy films …
“Shahad Ameen’s Beautiful, Fantastical ‘Scales’ Picks Away at the Patriarchy”
For anyone in search of a “Luca” alternative. Continue reading
“Wolfwalkers’ Unmissable Animation Makes History Magic”
Walkin’ like a wolf. Wolfin’ like a walker. Makin’ magic happen. Continue reading
“‘Onward’: Pixar Takes A Step Backward In A Film Rife With Fantasy Clichés”
Onward, but not upward, or forward, just mostly backward. Continue reading
“‘Frozen 2’s’ Themes Become Darker Even as the Kid Gloves Stay On”
Hell yeah, a grown-ass man beating up on the adorable kids film, because my HEART is COLD as ICE. Continue reading
Issa López Brings Back the Darkness of Fairy Tales in “Tigers Are Not Afraid”
There’s about a 99% chance that tigers wrote the title for this film, but I’m not going to be the one to call them on it. Continue reading
Review: The Juniper Tree, 1990, dir. Nietzchka Keene
Can a movie made in 1990 that’s only just now being released in theaters REALLY be called a 1990 movie? Maybe. But also maybe not. How about both? Either way, it’s a damn masterpiece. Continue reading
“‘Robin Hood’ And Making A War Movie Out Of A Folk Hero”
Look, I really can’t explain Robin Hood to you, even in two frigging articles; it’s an inexplicable movie. On the one hand, he’s Batman for whatever dumb reason. On the other hand he’s Chris Kyle. I don’t get it. It’s fine to try and update classic characters of yore like this guy, but I’m not sure the … Continue reading
“The New Robin Hood Steals From Batman Begins And Gives Back In Poorer Form”
I’m increasingly convinced that superheroes will be the death of pop culture, and that one day, not too many days away from this day we’re on right now, all will be superheroes. Superhero movies and superhero TV series’ are just the beginning. Superhero music. (Probably already a thing.) Superhero diet plans. (Same.) Superhero high fashion. Superhero … Continue reading
“What ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Lost by Leaving ‘Harry Potter’ Behind”
You may remember that two years ago, I had very unflattering things to say about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, allegedly a “spin-off” from and “prequel” to the Harry Potter films, but more honestly an attempt at squeezing a few bajillion more dimes out of J.K. Rowling’s now-classic YA series. To paraphrase Sarah Silverman in Popstar: … Continue reading
Review: I Kill Giants, 2018, dir. Anders Walter
It’s probably balm to Anders Walter’s soul to know that unlike David Ehrlich, I did not hate I Kill Giants. That said, I didn’t like it, either, though I have to follow that up by also saying I didn’t dislike it. I’m sure that this is completely sensible to everyone reading this. Thing is, I Kill Giants is … Continue reading
“How ‘Wrinkle in Time’ Refuses to Conform”
Recently, I took it upon myself as a journalist, a critic, and a writer to re-read A Wrinkle in Time, the ol’ Madeleine L’Engle book, in preparation for A Wrinkle in Time, the new Ava DuVernay adaptation. (I actually covered the story years back, when Disney hired Jennifer Lee to write it, so I’ve been procrastinating on … Continue reading
‘The Shape of Water’ Is Wonder and Nostalgia Done Right
For my second piece about one of my top three favorite movies of the year, being Guillermo del Toro’s brilliant The Shape of Water, I took to the pages of The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog to talk about the element of his work that I find so compelling: His unfailing sense of wonder and awe. No … Continue reading
Interview: Patrick Ness, “A Monster Calls”
Last October, I was given the opportunity to have a sit-down with Patrick Ness, author (ish) of the low fantasy, young adult novel A Monster Calls, and to talk with him about the experience of adapting his own novel (ish) from page to screen. (“Ish” meaning: Ness was contracted to write it, but author Siobhan Dowd, who … Continue reading
Review: Pete’s Dragon, 2016, dir. David Lowery
Pete’s Dragon worked for me. This is as surprising a development for me as it is for everyone who knows me. Let’s examine the facts: I’m not a huge fan of Lowery’s last film, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, such that I have not bothered to go back and see his other films. Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is … Continue reading
Review: Alice Through the Looking Glass, 2016, dir. James Bobin
I probably don’t need to tell you at this point that Alice Through the Looking Glass is a pretty bad movie. I also don’t really want to tell you about it, because I’ve already dedicated enough ink to the film as it is, and even my 900 word take-down of the sequel to Tim Burton’s 2010 surprise … Continue reading
Review: The Huntsman: Winter’s War, 2016, dir. Cedric Nicolas-Troyan
The big question hanging over The Huntsman: Winter’s War is broadly simple: “Who the hell is this ding dang movie for, anyway?” The only entity who theoretically should know, Universal Pictures, doesn’t, at least as evidenced by the way they chosen to package and sell the movie to whoever they’re hoping to sell it to: If … Continue reading
Review: The Dead Lands, 2015, dir. Toa Fraser
“Thirty years ago, give or take, Toa Fraser’s The Dead Lands would have fit in nicely during the period’s boom of heroic fantasy films—Krull, Hawk the Slayer, Conan the Barbarian, Fire and Ice, The Sword and the Sorcerer—save for a paucity of camp. Not that The Dead Lands is an entirely somber affair, mind you, … Continue reading
THE HOBBIT, Thorin Oakenshield, & Peter Jackson
“Of all the bad production decisions made in Peter Jackson’s loose adaptation of The Hobbit – gross overuse of CGI, check-list fan service, and a few instances of comically bad casting – the worst by far has been franchising. The Hobbit never needed to be more than one movie; it’s an example of either creative … Continue reading
Go, See, Talk! Review: The Hobbit, 2012, dir. Peter Jackson
This all seems awfully familiar: it’s December, and a big-scale fantasy epic based on one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s essential landmark novels has been adapted to the screen by the man who directed Dead Alive. Forget that we’re trekking back to Middle Earth, the arrival of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is itself a return to a status quo … Continue reading
A Constant Visual Feast 