mother! Review

Indiewire

     Paramount Pictures has been in a bit of a slump lately. Outside of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and Transformers: The Last Knight (debatable), their big budget films have not done all that well at the box office (with Ben-Hur being a staggering failure), and their Oscar bait just hasn’t latched on the way they probably wanted. Though I thought their last Oscar time movie, Silence, was an excellent film, I can see why they might want to up the ante a bit with their next entry. And so they turned to Darren Aronofsky, the man behind Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, and Black Swan. And the only thing I have to say is… Wow. Let’s just go ahead and dissect this thing.

How a Band I Hated Saved My Life

The Fuze Magazine

     “Dude, you have Linkin Park on your iPod?” That’s a question I’ve been asked more than a few times in my life, and my response was usually something snarky or feigned confusion. In reality I didn’t really know why this band was taking up valuable space (now fourteen songs’ worth), at least not at first. Now, especially after yesterday’s tragic events, I think I know the answer. First, though, let’s give a little history of me, Linkin Park, and how that clickbait-y title is actually the truth. It’s a bit of a doozy.

E3 2017 Predictions

E3

     It’s the most wonderful time of the year, people. And no, I’m not talking about Christmas, I’m talking about E3! The biggest video game expo of the year, where everybody who’s anybody in the gaming industry (minus one notable exception) comes together to show off their investors and fans the cool stuff they’ve got going on this year and in the near future. If you want coverage of E3 go check out the cool folks at IGN and keep an eye on their site, because that’s not what we’re doing here today. Predicting these things is always fun, and today I’ve brought in two friends of mine to help me out: Kevin from the Comic Book Revolution and Brandon from Gamers Pantheon, who I’ve collaborated with once before. The format is simple: for the big three companies (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo), give six predictions of what you think you'll see this year. Fun, right?

13 Thoughts on 13 Reasons Why

The Mighty

     If you’re of a certain age, you can’t escape the Netflix phenomenon that is 13 Reasons Why. This tale of a teenage girl’s suicide, and the people she implicates as culprits in tapes she left behind, has captivated the world and led to a lot of discussion and debate. I personally enjoyed the show quite a bit, but my issues with it are too complicated to try and write out in a regular review, so I’m going to try something a bit different. Here’s my two cents (more like thirteen, amirite?) on 13 Reasons Why, for those still conflicted on jumping in.

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.