Another Reason to Love Aliens – It’s a Symmetrical Film

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve heard Aliens described as a “rollercoaster” because it’s such a thrilling ride. It turns out that that metaphor is true on an entirely new level. The first and second halves of that movie closely mirror each other, creating another example of Cinematic Chiasmus.

I’ll be using the Special Edition of Aliens (not the theatrical version) for this discussion because the Special Edition has a lot of amazing scenes that add to the story, and it’s the version that James Cameron intended for audiences to see.

So let’s go to a place in the universe you shouldn’t go alone and discover the symmetrical nature of the sci-fi/action classic Aliens. Continue reading →

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Marvel’s Unique Approach to Secret Identities

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Tony Stark announces at a press conference that he is Iron Man.Marvel superheroes don’t have secret identities in the same way that we usually associate secret identities with superheroes. The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Guardians of the Galaxy all have completely public identities. Everyone knows who they are in real life, so their superhero names are more for personal branding than anything.

Other big Marvel characters, like the X-Men, Thor, and Hulk, have more ambiguous (or even non-existent) second identities. And then there’s Spider-Man. At first glance, he seems to have the most normal secret identity, but he’s a special case, and I’ll go in depth on him in a bit.

In this article, I’ll just be talking about what we see in the movies. The comics have so many decades of competing continuities and storylines that I find it much simpler to just go off of the big-screen versions of these superheroes.

So let’s start exploring Marvel’s unique approach to its superheroes’ secret identities! Continue reading →

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The 10 Most Obscure Movies That Earned More Than $300 Million (Adjusted for Inflation)

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

This summer’s crop of big-budget movies struggled to get into true blockbuster territory in the U.S. and Canada. Domestically, only one film has managed to gross more than $300 million in 2014 – Guardians of the Galaxy, a film that seemed least likely to be this year’s breakout hit.

But grossing a ton of money doesn’t necessarily mean that a film will be forever embedded in popular culture. In fact, several films have earned more than $300 million in 2014 dollars and then fallen into relative obscurity in later years.

I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most obscure films that earned more than $300 million in adjusted dollars. Yes, most of these films had help from re-releases over the years, but these numbers are based on the number of tickets they sold, which is a great equalizer in comparing films with multiple release dates. Continue reading →

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How to Fix Star Trek Generations

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

In 1994, the first film starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew arrived in theaters. I’ve had a lot of time since then to think about what went wrong with it. Star Trek Generations is a puzzling film because its flaws are so glaring:

  • The Nexus passes incredibly close to Earth (the headquarters of the Federation) at the start of the film, and yet the Enterprise-B is the only ship close enough to attempt a rescue.
  • Captain Jean-Luc Picard can pick any point in time to go back to and yet he picks the one time when he’s at a significant disadvantage to try to stop Tolian Soran’s plan.
  • James T. Kirk’s death is a pale shadow of the emotional one given to Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Rather than pointing out all this movie’s flaws, which many other reviewers have done brilliantly (including the Nostalgia Critic, SF Debris, and Confused Matthew), I am going to explain how to fix it.

Star Trek Generations could have been among the best Star Trek films. The filmmakers had all the pieces to make a truly great film. I’ll discuss seven ways they should have put them together.

Let’s boldly go where the makers of Star Trek Generations should have gone before. Continue reading →

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Movie Matchups: Who Framed Roger Rabbit vs. Chinatown

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Some people have speculated that Who Framed Roger Rabbit is some sort of sequel, remake, or homage to Chinatown. But it’s none of those things. Who Framed Roger Rabbit is actually a perfect parody of that classic murder mystery.

I would like to thank fellow blogger O Poderoso Chofer for inspiring this Movie Matchup. I probably never would have picked up on all of the parallels between these two films if he hadn’t suggested the idea to me, so I owe him one.

This is going to be a little different from my other Movie Matchups. Rather than simply pointing out the parallels between these two films, I’m going to emphasize the comedy twists that Who Framed Roger Rabbit puts on Chinatown.

Let’s hop to it! Continue reading →

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Bill and Ted’s Symmetrical Adventure

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

In my last Cinematic Chiasmus, I demonstrated how the entire Back to the Future Trilogy follows the same pattern backwards and forwards. This time I’ll delve into another classic ‘80s time-travel movie: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Wait. A seemingly brainless comedy about two surfer dudes traveling through time is actually an intelligently crafted piece of rich entertainment? Whoa.

I know how you feel. But like Bill and Ted themselves at the Circle K, I’m here to assure you that you are in for a most excellent adventure as we discover the symmetrical nature of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Stay Tuned

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Stay Tuned is a mix between The Running Man and Kentucky Fried Movie. It’s a bizarre little film that presents us with the idea that Satan is not only sadistic, but he likes his sadism served up as primetime television.

I saw this movie once as a kid, and my parents never let me see it again. For good reasons, I’m sure. Now that I’m grown up, I find Stay Tuned to be strangely endearing. It’s whacky and uneven, but that’s the point.

It’s not a perfect film; I’m not even sure if it qualifies as a good film. But I really like it, for some perverse reason, and I invite you to join me as we discover this forgotten film gem, Stay Tuned. Don’t touch that dial! Continue reading →

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Pleasant Surprises: Robots

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Remember Robots – the most generically titled animated film until Cars came out the following year? I skipped it when it first came out because if the title was that uninspired I was sure the rest of the movie wouldn’t be much better.

How wrong I was.

My wife picked Robots out of a bargain bin at Wal-Mart a while back and I forced myself to sit down and see what it was all about. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Continue reading →

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Which James Bond Movies Actually Had You Convinced Bond Was in Danger of Being Killed?

Posted on August 12, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

James Bond is the most immortal mortal character ever conceived. He has a nasty habit of surviving. Put him in an overly elaborate death trap and he finds a way to escape. Kill him off and he shows up a few scenes later, fit as a fiddle and pleased with himself for fooling his enemies. And when he gets too old, he just gets replaced by a younger actor.

James Bond shrugs off a shoulder injury and proceeds with style.The fun of Bond movies isn’t so much guessing whether or not the protagonist is going to live or die, but how stylishly he can overcome his enemies. Which is why it’s so surprising when these movies sometimes manage to make us believe Bond could actually be killed.

Only two movies truly made me feel like there was no way Bond was going to make it out of them alive: From Russia with Love and Licence to Kill. I’d like to explain why that is. Spoiler: It’s mostly the villains. Continue reading →

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Great Scott! The Entire Back to the Future Trilogy Is One Big Chiasmus

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve discovered that some films follow a chiasmus formula in the way their stories are set up. What is a chiasmus? It’s an ancient writing structure in which ideas are listed in one order and then repeated in the opposite order to form a complete idea.

The nursery rhyme “Hickory Dickory Dock” is a perfect example of a chiasmus. Every verse follows the same pattern:

A. Hickory dickory dock

 B. The mouse ran up the clock

  C. The clock struck one

 B. The mouse ran down

A. Hickory dickory dock

Up ‘til now I’ve limited my focus to individual films to find their cinematic chiasmus. But I am happy to report that the entire Back to the Future Trilogy is almost perfectly symmetrical. This took some incredible planning to pull off, and I’ll discuss its implications at the end.

But now, let’s make history as we explore the chiasmus of all three Back to the Future films. Continue reading →

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