I liked The Purge. I absolutely loved The Purge: Anarchy. Even though the creative team stayed in place, they were two wildly different experiences. The former relied completely on its unique premise to get by. Once the premise was in place, it played it safe with the narrative and didn't do anything that most people... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part 4 of the 50/50 mini-list series! Don't miss Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3! Generally speaking, going to the movies is supposed to be fun. And nothing is more fun than when a movie sucks you in to the point that your heartrate actually elevates, your breathing speeds up (or stops... Continue Reading →
This is the second installment of the 50/50 series, celebrating the halfway point of the Movie March to 100. Don't miss part 1! Probably the best moviegoing experience one can have is sitting down in a theater with little to no expectations and then proceeding to have an outstanding experience. Maybe the reviews were bad. Or... Continue Reading →
This is the first of five Top Five lists for this week. Each day, Monday through Friday, will see a new 50/50 column covering the first half (50 down, 50 to go) of my March to 100. Well . . . the first 49, I suppose. But 49/51 doesn't have the same ring. If Thursday night's number... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Part 3 of the 50/50 series of lists for the first half of the year in movies! Don't miss Part 1 or Part 2! It's always fun to see a film connect with audiences and break out, earning far more money than expected and rewarding the filmmakers for their efforts. But it's also... Continue Reading →
Here we go again. Here we have another movie that, much like A Hologram for the King, would have had pretty strong mainstream appeal if not for its virtually nonexistent shoestring budget and, therefore, invisible marketing campaign. The Family Fang has everything casual moviegoers like in their lowkey alternatives to big-budget fare. It's got comedy, drama, mystery, recognizable... Continue Reading →
Here's a peek behind the scenes. In almost every instance, I write up the first two or three paragraphs of these posts before I see the movie. Those paragraphs usually just deal with my thoughts and expectations going in and getting those typed up first speeds things up a little bit after I see the... Continue Reading →
Let me stop you right there. I think I know what some of you might be thinking about The Shallows. And it's easy to dismiss any shark movie as a Jaws ripoff. But that's incredibly shortsighted and reductive. Not to mention unfair. There's more to any movie - not just shark movies - than its... Continue Reading →
Independence Day: Resurgence is facing an uphill battle. At least, financially. There is not a strong history of successful sequels coming more than three years or so after the previous installment. It happens (Jurassic World), but it's rare. In this case, there's been a mammoth twenty-year gap. Also going against it is the lack of... Continue Reading →
Here's something about me: I've been a huge wrestling fan for the majority of my life. Along the way, I watched the development of a man who was then (and sometimes is still) known as The Rock. It wasn't immediately evident that he was bound for stardom - not in the wrestling industry, much less... Continue Reading →
The Movie March! 