John Wick seems to have a little competition in the “unstoppable killing machine” sub-genre. Chris Hemsworth stars as badass mercenary Tyler Rake in Netflix’s newest balls-to-the-wall action movie, Extraction. While this film certainly pulls no punches with its incredible choreography and stuntwork, the story itself feels like a light slap from a toddler. Is that enough to stop someone from enjoying this classic 80’s action throwback? Let’s find out!
Continue reading “Extraction Review”
This may be a little late, but I’ve been taking time to catch up on all the films on my watchlist from 2019. Now that I’ve done so and we’re all quarantined due to COVID-19, it’s finally time to make this list! It may be updated later upon watching more 2019 films, but as of now, this is what I’ve got! I don’t normally do lists in numerical order because I find it difficult to put some films over others while considering different genres, emotional resonance, quality vs overall enjoyment, etc. I think a proper top ten favorite list should be in numerical order though, so that’s what I’m going to do. Let’s start with a few honorable mentions.
Continue reading “My Top Ten Films of 2019”SPOILER ALERT
This is without a doubt my favorite scene of the movie. The evolution (or devolution, depending on how you look at it) of Arthur Fleck into the Joker character masterfully comes to a beautifully victorious yet profoundly sad climax. On the one hand, we have Arthur finally captures the love and recognition from others that he has been desperately chasing throughout the film. On the other hand, what we’re really seeing here is the final transformation of man that has been pushed to the very edge of sanity. Any light of goodness left in Arthur is officially snuffed out with the crowd’s affirmation of his vengeful rampage. The mob is unknowingly cheering the creation of one of the most notorious villains in entertainment history.
Besides Joaquin’s performance, the music has such a powerful role in conveying the tragedy of this scene. As triumphant as it may sound, there is an underlying melancholy to the theme that perfectly captures what we’re witnessing.
“For me, filmmaking combines everything. That’s the reason I’ve made cinema my life’s work. In films, painting and literature, theatre and music come together. But a film is still a film.”
“And I do think that earlier in my career, I did make a very conscious decision to make sure that I was doing work that wasn’t necessarily given to me, and that people didn’t necessarily think that I would be able to do.“
There are always going to be some disappointing reactions coming out of the Oscars, and yes, even some outrage (shocking, I know). I always find it fascinating to see just who is outraged about this profoundly subjective award show, and I can’t say I’m ever surprised. This year has, however, yielded one of the most hilariously cringeworthy reactions I think I’ve ever seen, and it’s coming from a crazy, comic-book loving, hillbilly, too!
YouTuber Robert Storms jumps out to an early lead in the race for Dumbest Video of the Year with his 5-minute tirade over Parasite taking home Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards. Again, I always find it funny to see just how many people, who probably couldn’t care less about the Oscars until they actually happen, go absolutely berserk over such a subjective topic. People like good ol’ Rob here are the folks that have absolutely no idea how the Academy works (or any award show for that matter), nor have they seen all of the movies nominated. They only see big, tent-pole franchise films, and they go into the Oscars expecting their favorite comic book movie to clean house. Yes, Joker was an incredible movie, one of the very best of the year, but you know what? There were actually many other fantastic films this year, Parasite included. So let’s break down this painfully dumb and polemic rant and refute a few of Rob’s big-brain points.
Continue reading “Outraged Hillbilly Rants About Parasite Earning Every Award it Derserved.”Here he is! Robert Pattinson is finally dawning the new cowl in this first-look teaser of the new The Batman film. There’s been a lot of obvious critiscm over the choice of casting “that sparkly vampire boy” in the famed role. This of course is all coming from the poeple who have not seen Pattinson in any of his most recent films. To those people, I say politely, please go watch Good Time and The Lighthouse and shut up. Pattinson has proved himself to be an absolutely stellar actor (a far cry from his Twilight days), and I’m quite amped to see him portray a younger Batman. If The Lighthouse hadn’t been thoroughly shafted this award season, and Pattinson had picked up the nominations he deserved, maybe people would be more excited about him portraying the Bat.
As for the teaser, I think he looks great! There’s a lot of comments about how dark it is, how it looks like Daredevil, and blah blah blah. Take it easy, people. It’s a screen test, not a full blown trailer. Plus, if there’s character that should be shrouded in darkness, it’s Batman. I think the suit looks cool from what we can see. The armor and cowl look the best so far, and I like that the bat-symbol is more mechanical looking and built into the suit in a functional way. The cape looks quite weighty, almost like a heavy kevlar or leather, which I’m not super sure about at the moment. Ben Affleck’s suit is still my favorite so far, and took clear inspiration from The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. Pattinson’s suit looks likes it might be taking inspiration from the recent New 52 Batman run by Scott Snyder and Greg Cupollo. We’ll have to wait to see the full suit later! For now, I’m really digging Rob in this, just based off of looks alone. The true test, as always, will be how his voice sounds though, and I’m looking forward to hearing it!
It would appear that we’re getting another surrealist period-piece dipped in that magical vat of horror A24 seems to have a patent on. I am a sucker for all things medieval, so this has immediately jumped onto my watchlist. As with most A24 films, this will probably be the only trailer I’ll watch going into the film. A24 has recently turned into a new gold standard horror for me, and I don’t want anything spoiling that. I just hope that this isn’t a similar marketing scheme to that of It Comes at Night, though I feel that they’ve since learned from that. Needless to say, I am very intrigued!
Love this pic!
Beyond the Frame 