Review: Rogue One

Spoiler free for the plot!

Very minor aesthetic spoilers!

After plenty of anticipation, trepidation and curiosity, the first Star Wars spinoff film is here and it’s a unexpected beast.  This is the prequel fans have been waiting for. Set immediately before the events of A New Hope, Rogue One gives us a brand new cast of characters and expands on the established history of the series. The film finds its own identity early on, stepping away from some establishments and having a gritty dark tone that sets it apart from the saga films. Be warned, this movie isn’t for young kids. Instead, this one is for the older fans who have grown up on the franchise and the film delivers a great film for that audience.

Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Prequel and spin off. Two words that have become rather dirty in the film industry as of late. With major blockbusters like Star Wars and The Hobbit producing prequel films that didn’t hit the mark quite like their originals, prequels have made me nervous as of late. And so I went into Fantastic Beasts rather worried to be honest. Would the Harry Potter spin off deliver? Will five films be too many? The short answer is yes, they certainly delivered and I found myself craving more by the time the credits started rolling.

Review: Doctor Strange

The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe entry comes in the form of the strangest (ha) entry to date. Enter Doctor Strange, a metaphysical film about spirituality, dimensions and realities. And while the film stumbles a bit here and there, it is certainly the most visually engaging film I’ve seen in years and poses many questions for the future of the MCU.

Best of Action: Mad Max Fury Road

Here comes my first entry in a series that looks  into the very best of the action genre! Up first, Mad Max: Fury Road! 

What a day! What a lovely day! That sums up Nux’s feelings as he drives through a sandstorm, looking for his death to reach the gates of Valhalla. It’s also how I feel when I decide to rewatch Fury Road, the 2015 action masterpiece that racked up 11 Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and winning six of them, the most for the year. Sitting at a handsome 97% on the Tomato Meter, Fury Road is a relentless, chrome filled action extravaganza that also offered up a unique commentary on gender studies.

Final Rogue One Trailer Review

We got a new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story today after a new poster was revealed yesterday on The Star Wars Show. This is the third and final trailer and definitely shows the most in terms of plot so for those who want to go in completely blind, stop reading here. I’ve really enjoyed the tone and feel the first two trailers established and despite some criticism I have on this trailer, December 16th can’t get here any sooner.

Retrospect: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

As I write this, I thought it wildly appropriate to listen to the trilogy soundtrack on Spotify, just to create a really awesome experience as I talk about one of the greatest cinematic achievements in film. Of course am talking about Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Filmed back to back, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King boasts a combined budget of around $300 million, a box office of almost $3 billion and being nominated for 30 Academy Awards, winning 17 in total, 11 of those for The Return of the King, including Best Picture. Pretty impressive.

Review: The Magnificent Seven

The fall movie season gallops off to a fun start, thanks to the fun western that is Magnificent Seven. Unlike most recent westerns, like The Revenent  or more modern interpretations like No Country for Old Men, Magnificent Seven is an up to date version of saloon shoot ’em ups and cowboy action, worthy of modern popcorn entertainment but not for deep insight into man’s psyche. But that’ not a bad thing.

Review: Batman V Superman

Well I went there. I’ve watched the polarizing movie in recent memory. I watched it get dragged through the mud critically and commercially, seen both sides of the love and hate it debate and waited for the dust to settle. And you know what? I did not hate this movie. I didn’t love it either and the movie has a hefty amount of problems. But it also got a lot right and took chances where other superhero films have yet to delve into.

Series Review: The Night Of

Spoiler alert for episode 1 and minor spoilers for the series as a whole.

The Night Of is the biggest television surprise and delight of 2016 so far for me. It came out no where, with little marketing and not much hype leading up to it. But damn, that was a good mini series and while everyone was (is) talking about Stranger Things (which I’ll get to eventually, I swear), HBO’s The Night Of slipped quietly by, racking up critical praise and a following of it’s own.

Fall Movie Preview

Now that September is upon us (insert “Wake Me Up” reference), it’s time for the Fall movie preview. After the huge meh and let down that was Summer 2016, here’s hoping the Fall offers some better quality films. This isn’t a list of every movie coming out, rather my 15 most anticipated of the year. The films are listed in order of release so what’s first is coming soon and last won’t be until near Christmas.