The biopic is a surprisingly elastic storytelling tool. In theory, it exists to present an overview of a life. But what is life? It can be tragic, uplifting, or enthralling, and often, all of those together within the same span of years. By the same token, the biopic can be a tragedy, a warning, a…
A funny thing happened on the way to my press screening of Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (and if you think I’m typing that title full-on again in this review, well, we’ll see how the word count goes), and I blame myself entirely. I didn’t know that Birds of Prey…
Waaaayyyy back in what we call the Golden Age of Hollywood, it wouldn’t be unusual for studios to only release 50 or 60 films and maybe only a few more than 100 worldwide. Now, that number is generally surpassed by the end of the first quarter of each year. With that giant upswing in content…
It Chapter Two is a glorious mess. When the decision was made to split Stephen King’s It into two films, it seemed a sensible choice. The novel is over 1,100 pages long, and even the space of two lengthy films couldn’t possibly cover everything. King’s novel not only dives into the characters of the Loser’s Club…
It’s a rare occurrence when you watch a film and realize that you’ve spoken out loud about it before it’s over. I apologize to the person sitting next to me, but I think he totally understood. There was a moment while watching Joker when the screen went black and a breathless “wow” came out of my…
The great philosopher Tyler Durden once said, “The things we possess end up possessing us.” Taking that sort of glib pseudo-philosophy seriously is bound to backfire, but someone has anyway, so we may as well grapple with it. The possession under discussion is the haunted doll Annabelle, which has been traveling in search of a…
People have been talking about a change in tone for DC superhero films for a while now. I’ve certainly been one of them. There are a million think pieces on how the world has gone to hell in a handbag and how we need films that take us away from that these days. Wonder Woman…
Whether you love it or hate it, A Star Is Born has swept across the nation, winning over the hearts of many audience viewers as well as critics. Until recently, I wasn’t overly familiar with this film, let alone the three other iterations that came before it. However, when the opportunity to cover the home video release…
Filmmaker James Wan is no stranger to franchises — his first movie, Saw, led to a long-running franchise, and later horror movie Insidious also led to three more movies. The based-on-real-events horror film The Conjuring is still going strong with five movies and at least three more to come. It would make sense that after directing…
The DC Universe films haven’t always been the most lighthearted. From Man of Steel to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, there has been a rather dour feel. Wonder Woman changed all that and lightened things up, and Aquaman is the perfect successor here. The film hits theaters on December 21, and fans will be treated to a candy-colored…