What DC Can Learn From Logan

Coming Soon

     This past weekend, Hugh Jackman’s seventeen year-long run as the iconic superhero Wolverine came to an end with Logan, the first R-rated film starring the character and directed by James Mangold. Critics loved it, audiences love it, it’s doing extremely well worldwide, and I hold it as the best superhero movie since The Dark Knight back in 2008. In short, it’s a pretty damn good movie. Jackman gets a proper send-off, as does Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, and we finally see the brutal violence Wolverine is known for along with a well-written, dark, dramatic and heartbreaking storyline that left this reviewer in tears more than once. It’s a smashing success for Fox and for comic book movies in general. 

     Now I know what some of you are thinking: a dark and more thoughtful superhero movie is getting praised… But what about DC? They’ve been doing that since Man of Steel, and everybody hates them for it! What makes Logan so good and not DC’s movies? Well, in short… Logan got great reviews because it’s a great movie, one with objectively good performances, expert direction, well-filmed action sequences, and a great script. Is it perfect? No, of course not, but it’s leagues above (pun intended) DC’s recent output, most of which have been savaged by critics and just barely approved by audiences. So DC faces a crisis: you can’t build a cinematic universe without unified critic and audience support, and good will based on the characters can only go so far. Since DC wants to be darker and more serious, I thought that I’d go through some of my favorite parts of Logan and see if it can help the Distinguished Competition improve their films and finally put up a real fight against Marvel.

How to Make Good Video Game Movies

Nerds on the Rocks

     Assassin’s Creed opened up this weekend, and despite all the highest hopes of gamers around the world, it sucked. Unlike other craptastic films, though, it’s not on track to do a lot of business, leaving many people to wonder if we will ever get a good video game movie. I mean, this year had so many opportunities and they all failed, so what hope do we have? Well, as a film lover and a huge gamer, let me just toss in my two cents.

Assassin’s Creed Review

20th Century Fox

     At the beginning of 2016, I was convinced that this was going to be the year of the video game movie. Three big budget game movies based on two games I love and Warcraft? What could possibly go wrong? Well, not being very good movies did (even though I enjoyed Warcraft myself), even though Ratchet & Clank got a great game out of their awful movie. However, the one that we all had our eyes on was Assassin’s Creed, produced by and starring the great Michael Fassbender and directed by the guy who did the last Macbeth movie (and did a pretty good job, if I might add). Pair them with a fascinating sci-fi premise and you should have a winner, right? Let’s find out.

Eyewitness Season 1 Review

SpoilerTV

     If you thought that remakes were just limited to the big screen, then you would be mistaken my friends. The wonderful House of Cards is a remake of a British show, as is The Office, while The Returned was Carlton Cuse’s rendition of the French Les Revenants and USA’s Shooter is a remake of… Shooter. However, none of these had me as intrigued as Eyewitness, a remake of a Norwegian show called Øyevitne. Promising to be a combination of a coming of age story and a murder mystery, I was excited to give it a shot. Did it hit those high marks? Let’s find out.

Rogue One Review

starwars.com

     Disney has been pretty intent on bringing back Star Wars, haven’t they? Not content to simply continue the saga of the Skywalker clan, standalone movies have now been planned to flesh out this great universe and explore corners and stories that can’t be hit in the primary films. The first of these films is Rogue One, based on a relatively minor plot point from A New Hope, and with Godzilla director Gareth Edwards promising us a darker and more mature movie. Do they succeed? Let’s find out.

Manchester By the Sea Review

Huffington Post

     It’s a really good time to be an Affleck brother. Ben, after a decade of being a joke of an actor, returned to prominence as one of the premier directors working today with hits like The Town and the Best Picture-winning film Argo. Oh, and he’s Batman, so there’s that. Meanwhile, his brother Casey has been rising up himself, taking smaller and more interesting roles like The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford, Gone Baby Gone (directed by Ben), and Out of the Furnace. This year, while Ben is off battling Superman and making a pretty rad-looking gangster flick, Casey is in this film, a critical darling aiming to get a ton of awards. But is it actually that good? Let’s find out!

Moonlight Review

wikipedia.org

     There are certain films that come along every now and then that really shake you to your core and make you open your eyes to a way of life that you never knew about. They break your heart and widen your perspective on life, whether you agree with what you have seen or not. City of God is one of those movies, as are Do the Right Thing and Slumdog Millionaire. Now another one has come along, and this one is called Moonlight. Let’s dive in.