Are there any important lessons we might glean from The Lion King that relate to current events and trends? Let’s find out. Continue reading
Batman made his debut in Detective Comics in 1939 and then 18 years later a similar character showed up in the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged. That character is Francisco d’Anconia. These are two of my favorite fictional heroes, and I was delighted to discover that they have a lot in common with each other. They are both fabulously wealthy businessmen who use their power and influence to change the world for the better. And I’m going to reveal how Bruce Wayne and Francisco d’Anconia are different sides of the same coin. Continue reading
Most sequels acknowledge the fact that a lot of time passes in between film productions by showing us familiar characters in new situations, a la Die Hard 2. After all, it probably wouldn’t have been much fun to see what happened immediately after the events of the first Die Hard with John McClane spending some time in the hospital recovering from his injuries. It also wouldn’t have been believable for him to take on any more terrorists that night.
Some sequels pick up right where the previous film left off, offering us a glimpse into what happened after the end credits rolled. These don’t wait a year or anything like that, but they present the events that took place just a few minutes or hours after the previous film ended. I’ve put together a list of 16 films that fall into this category. Not every sequel on this list is able to sustain this type of storytelling, but many work quite well. So let’s see what happens as we examine the seamless transitions from one film to the next. Continue reading
Joss Whedon and James Cameron are famous for their strong female characters. For example, Cameron singlehandedly turned Sigourney Weaver into an action star while Whedon basically did the same for Scarlett Johansson. Even though they are both really good at turning women into seemingly unstoppable killing machines, they do so in completely opposite ways. Let’s discuss examples of how they do this and what it means to their films. Continue reading
In the Spider-Man film series, will Andrew Garfield be remembered in much the same way that George Lazenby is often seen as the odd man out among James Bond actors? Both of these actors faced the tough task of being the first to fill in for the original actor in the role. I know, both Peter Parker and James Bond had been portrayed by different actors on TV before making their film debuts in 2002 and 1962, respectively, but you know what I mean. Tobey Maguire and Sean Connery will always be synonymous with their respective characters since they had the biggest impact and enjoyed the biggest success early on. But what about their immediate successors? How will Andrew Garfield’s contributions be judged as the character moves on without him?
Let’s discuss his similarities to George Lazenby before answering that question. Continue reading
I have a funny way of looking at films. Sometimes my powers of observation lead to entirely new ways of analyzing films’ plots while other times they yield silly puns. Today I present the latter. Please enjoy these five funny observations about a random assortment of films. Continue reading
Since Superman: The Movie, there have really only been two kinds of Superman movies. Superman and Superman II provide the framework for every film featuring the Man of Steel that has come after. Here they are:
Think about it. Let’s go through every Superman film and see how they all fall into one category or the other, and sometimes both. Continue reading
