Tag Archives: science fiction

The Remarkable Symmetry of the Original Superman: The Movie

This is my third cinematic chiasmus. The first time, I noticed 17 parallel scenes in the first and second halves of 1987’s RoboCop. The second time, I pointed out 26 parallel scenes in The Empire Strikes Back. This time, I’m … Continue reading

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8 Timeless Yet Dated Classic Films

Some movies, such as Star Wars, try to be as timeless as possible in their music, costumes, and sets. That way, they can be enjoyed by audiences for generation after generation and never get old. Other films aim for a … Continue reading

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Thanks to Days of Future Past, X-Men Is Finally the Series It Always Deserved to Be

I saw X-Men: Days of Future Past this weekend, and I can’t help feeling that this is what the X-Men series was always meant to be. All of the series’ strengths are on display here and almost none of its … Continue reading

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The Empire Strikes Back Is a Perfectly Symmetrical Film

Anakin Skywalker was prophesied to bring balance to the Force, and it looks like he did in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. This film, which many hail as the best of the original trilogy, is an example of … Continue reading

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1990: The Year of Failed Film Franchises

As far as I can tell, 1990 had more series-destroying sequels than any year before or since. And most of these sequels to popular films didn’t exactly go out on a high note, like, say, Return of the King. Most … Continue reading

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RoboCop (1987) Is an Almost Perfectly Symmetrical Film

The Old Testament is full of examples of chiasmus, which is a figure of speech used in ancient times to emphasize balance. It lists a bunch of ideas or things and then repeats each of them in reverse order. It’s … Continue reading

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Predator Is Surprisingly Deep for an Action Movie

Happy April Fools’ Day. I’m only half-joking when I say that the 1987 classic Predator is surprisingly deep for an action movie. It’s not exactly the kind of movie you watch hoping for a lot of subtext to analyze. Predator … Continue reading

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Forgotten Film Gems: Space Cowboys

Ten years before The Expendables came out, Space Cowboys made the idea of an old-geezers team-up movie cool. Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner came together to turn what could have been a predictable fish-out-of-water story … Continue reading

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11 Movies That Actually Live Up to Their Hype

Hype is a necessary part of the movie industry. Theatrical film releases have to compete with home theaters, tablets, and various other means of enjoying entertainment that are more convenient than driving to a movie theater, buying an overpriced movie … Continue reading

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It’s Time for Spider-Man to Leave New York City

Why is it that we have movies with Sylvester Stallone climbing majestic mountains in Colorado and Tom Cruise scaling the tallest building in the world in Dubai, but Spider-Man (the Wall Crawler himself) has been confined to New York City … Continue reading

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