Fan fiction is an awkward literary subset written not by the original creator of a given work, but rather by fans. Nearly always disavowed by the originating artist, fan fiction is both defined by and exists outside the canon of whatever universe is being depicted, especially due to the fact that the quality of work is often hackneyed at best and, in many cases, sexually explicit at worst. As dreadful as the previous two Pirates of the Caribbean films were, the fourth installment, On Stranger Tides, feels the most like a work of fan fiction—sloppy, boring, tired and ultimately, totally irrelevant. [read more]
It is both artistically dishonest and embarrassingly naive to grant the status of “classic” to something only newly born. For a film to be called a classic, it must first stand the tests of longevity, critical reception and…oh what the hell, who am I kidding? Bridesmaids is an instant classic. [read more]
Priest is the sort of movie you walk into knowing full well its IQ is significantly less than the bucket of popcorn balanced in your lap. About all you can hope for in this situation is that it will also be fun. And when it turns out to not be any fun at all, you search frantically for something, anything nice to say about it and settle gratefully on, “Well, at least it was short.” [read more]
The problem with the current crop of superhero movies is that once you’ve exhausted the A-list (Superman, Spider-Man, Batman), you begin reaching for the second string personalities who may be every bit as worthy, but do not have the same sort of populist street cred. Thor is one such superhero. (The Green Lantern is another.) Sure, build it and the fanboys will come, but will anyone else? [read more]
The Second Law of Thermodynamics states roughly that there is a universal tendency for all things to progress from order to disorder. The longer a particular system goes, the greater its tendency toward entropy and decline. If only that principle could explain Fast Five, the fifth entry in the wearying, middling Fast and Furious franchise—clear and away the best of all the films and an unmitigated blast from start to finish. [read more]
Recently, while wandering in Frost’s proverbial yellow woods, I came to a fork in the road and decided to take the one less traveled. After a half dozen years as a professional film critic writing about other people’s movies, I have decided it is time to start letting them write about mine. [read more]
In the Brandon Fibbs Book of Movieisms it is stated: “A bad film is not the worst kind of film. A bad film is simply bad. It does not aspire to be anything better. But a film with potential to be great that squanders its promise by either action or inaction is a far more egregious and indefensible transgression.” Guess which category Hanna falls into? [read more]
Observant and heartfelt, the gentle comedy Happythankyoumoreplease is certainly not the most polished film you will see this year, but it is a breath of fresh cinematic air all the same. When was the last time you saw a film populated with young people on the cusp of adulthood who traded reflexive cynicism for vulnerable transparency, who do the right thing even if it is in the wrong way and who wrestle not so much with who they are but who they want to be? [read more]
A version of this review first appeared in The Colorado Springs Gazette. To read this review at its original source, click here.
Proving definitively that his remarkable freshman effort, Moon, was anything but luck or chance, director Duncan Jones returns with Source Code, a less meditative and ambitious film than his last outing, but one which meets the criteria required of the very best mainstream entertainment in spades. Screenwriting teachers will tell you that if you don’t hook your audience in the first 10 minutes of a film, you’ve lost them for the full two hours. Jones and writer Ben Ripley have crafted a thriller that does it in only eight. [read more]
A version of this review first appeared in The Colorado Springs Gazette. To read this review at its original source, click here.
An ambitious, epic, operatic action delirium, the dark and intensely violent Sucker Punch is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on acid. The film is a glorious disaster, a mind-bogglingly messy, perversely gorgeous piece of hyperstylized filmmaking that chills the blood one moment and thrills it the next. [read more]
