Pay It Forward is one of those movies (like Defending Your Life and Flatliners) that have a great concept, but they fail to deliver on their potential. At the heart of Pay It Forward is an idealistic message of hope that if one person helps three people and encourages them to return the favor by helping three other people, the entire world would change for the better, and many burdens would be lifted. Continue reading
I’ve heard Avengers: Infinity War described as the Empire Strikes Back of the Marvel Cinematic Universe because of its dark tone and somber ending. But I would argue that people who say that are a little off the mark. Avengers: Infinity War is the original 1977 Star Wars film if Darth Vader had won. Here’s my evidence to back up that claim. Continue reading
Tag is a fun movie title, but it feels incomplete, doesn’t it? No one just yells “Tag!” when they’re playing that game. To complete Tag’s title, all we have to do is put two more movie titles right after it, like so. Continue reading
I love almost all of James Cameron’s films. He does a great job of building up interesting characters, and that includes villains. Pretty much all of his villains are memorable, and most of them have impressive deaths. I’ve decided to rank the demise of James Cameron’s villains to see which one is the best.
I’m only going to include main villains on this list. No side villains or anything like that. Also, you won’t find Piranha II: The Spawning or Titanic on here. I don’t consider Piranha II a true James Cameron film because he had so little control over the production. And Cal Hockley dies off screen in Titanic. On with the list! Continue reading
1993 and 1994 were special years for me. In 1993, there were two great baseball films aimed at kids: The Sandlot and Rookie of the Year. And the next year there were two more such films I remember fondly: Angels in the Outfield and Little Big League. I know that all of these films have their flaws, but I love them all because it felt like they were made just for me, especially Little Big League. You see, I was a kid back then when those films came out. I’m sure there have been other baseball movies aimed squarely at kids, such as The Bad News Bears and its remake. But I can’t recall any other consecutive years that saw multiple films in that genre make their debut. And few other baseball films have left such a big impression on me.
Which brings me to Little Big League. It tells the story of a 12-year-old boy named Billy Heywood who inherits the Minnesota Twins after his grandpa dies. He later becomes general manager and earns the respect of the team’s players and fans. I watched this movie over and over as a kid. There was just something very appealing about it to me, and when I look back on it I can’t help but feel an oddly specific love for it.
Let’s step up to the plate and figure out what it is about this film that appeals to me when I don’t know if it would appeal to anyone else in quite the same way. Continue reading
Much has been said about 1998’s Dark City. Other people have analyzed its similarities to 1999’s The Matrix, fawned over its rich marriage of murder mystery and science fiction, and explored its deeper meaning and symbolism. But there’s one aspect of the film that I’ve never heard discussed, and that’s what happens after the end credits roll.
Spoiler alert to anyone who hasn’t seen this amazing film before. At the end of the film, the main character (John Murdoch) learns that the city he is living in was actually created by aliens, known only as the Strangers, who are experimenting on the human inhabitants in search of the secret to the human soul, which they hope will preserve their dying alien race. No one is who they think they are. They have all been implanted with false memories and lives, and they have no hope of ever finding their true home because every memory of Earth was taken from them. John receives Godlike powers over the machines that the Strangers use to control the city, and he uses those powers to defeat the Strangers and restructure the city to his liking. He lines the outside of the city with water to create the Shell Beach that has been one of the few bright spots in his fake memories, and then he proceeds to meet up with the woman who was his wife in a former life, but who now has no memory of him.
Bad guys defeated. Good guy gets the girl. Happy ending, right? Well, everyone in the city is still stranded who knows how many light-years from Earth with no clue how to get back there or even what it’s called. There are a lot of questions I have about what John Murdoch should do at the end of Dark City. Let’s go through them. Continue reading
I was excited to see Incredibles 2. It got rave reviews and audiences seemed to like it, so I definitely wanted to give it a shot. And it turned out to be pretty awful. Granted, I’ve only seen it once. But it only took me one viewing to know I loved The Incredibles. When the end credits rolled on that film, I just sat smiling and wanting more. When the end credits rolled on Incredibles 2, I was left perplexed and with a heavy feeling of disappointment.
Incredibles 2 just feels like a series of disconnected events that are kind of fun at times, but they fail to add up to anything or offer anything new. The first film is one of my favorites, so I don’t take any pleasure in pointing out the flaws in its sequel. Maybe my mind will change in the future, but for now I offer my undigested thoughts on Incredibles 2. Continue reading
There are two things that I absolutely love: movies and puns. And today I get to combine them to humorous results. Get ready for a Man with the Golden Gun pun. Continue reading
Batman: The Animated Series is often held up as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, cartoon shows ever made. I was the perfect age to enjoy this show as a kid, and I find myself enjoying it on a whole new level as a grownup. But even as a kid I knew I was watching something special when I saw a particular episode entitled “I Am the Night.” It deals with heavy topics like depression, mortality, futility, suffering, and revenge.
It’s my favorite episode because it manages to package all of these into an exciting and cathartic 22-minute story. It explores Batman’s relationship with Commissioner Gordon in a way I’ve never seen it explored anywhere else. And it delves into an avenue of Batman’s psyche that usually goes unaddressed. It’s a brave episode that is light on laughs and packed with pathos. In my opinion, it is the best episode of Batman: The Animated Series. Continue reading
There are many kinds of comedies. Slapstick, romantic, dark, road trip, parody, satire. You might think that 1979’s The Muppet Movie is a road trip comedy because at first glance it seems to be all about Kermit the Frog traveling across the country to hit the bigtime in Hollywood. But that’s not exactly true.
The movie is one big wink at the audience. Its framing device shows us that everyone in it knows that it’s a movie. It begins on a studio lot where the Muppets are eagerly awaiting the first screening of The Muppet Movie. We already know that they succeeded in their adventure, and what we’re watching is simply a dramatic recreation of the events that already took place.
When Kermit’s nephew asks if the events in the film accurately depict how the Muppets first came together, Kermit responds, “Well, it’s sort of approximately how it happened.” He’s letting us know that he’s in on the joke. And that joke is that this is an “isn’t it funny that” comedy. You can identify almost any joke in the movie with those words. Continue reading
Deja Reviewer 