Blog Archives
What I Watched In… April 2018
Favorite of the Month: Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
In the interest of full disclosure (and to generate a little content here) I thought I’d present a regular tally of what movies I managed to see in the previous month. Some of them I’ve written or talked about, most of them I haven’t. This list includes movies I saw for the first time, movies I’ve seen a thousand times, movies I saw in the theater, movies I watched at home, direct-to-DVD, made-for-TV and anything else that qualifies as a movie. I also choose my favorite of the month among those movies I saw for the first time, marked in red. Feel free to discuss or ask about any of them!
- Sing (2016), B+
- Star Kid (1997), B-
- The Phantom (1996), C+
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), A+
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), A-
- Gen 13 (2000), C-
- JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (2014), B-
- Superman: the Last Son of Krypton (1996), B+
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), B+
- Ant-Man (2015), B+
- Captain America: Civil War (2016), A+
- The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (2005), D-
- Ready Player One (2018), A
- Doctor Strange (2016), B+
- Dinosaurus! (1960), C-
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), A-
- Some Like it Hot (1959), A-
- Forbidden Planet (1956), B+
- The Spirit (2008), F
- The Pumaman (1980), D; MST3K Riff, A-
- Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953), B
- Superman (1978), A+
- Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), A-
- Comic Book Super Heroes Unmasked (2003), B
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), A
- Short Circuit (1986), B
- Compliance (2012), B+
- Superargo and the Faceless Giants (1968), D; RiffTrax Riff, B+
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018), A
- Phantom Boy 92015), B+
- The Mark of Zorro (1940), B+
What I Watched In… May 2017
Favorite of the Month: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
In the interest of full disclosure (and to generate a little content here) I thought I’d present a regular tally of what movies I managed to see in the previous month. Some of them I’ve written or talked about, most of them I haven’t. This list includes movies I saw for the first time, movies I’ve seen a thousand times, movies I saw in the theater, movies I watched at home, direct-to-DVD, made-for-TV and anything else that qualifies as a movie. I also choose my favorite of the month among those movies I saw for the first time, marked in red. Feel free to discuss or ask about any of them!
- The Time Travelers (1964), D+, MST3K Riff, B+
- Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), A
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), A-
- Fast Five (2011), B
- Inglorious Basterds (2009), A+
- Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), A
- It Follows (2014), B
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) B
- Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics (2013), B
- Avalanche (1978), C-; MST3K Riff, A-
- Lord of the Flies (1963), A
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005), B
- The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956), F; MST3K Riff, B+
- Prometheus (2012), B-
- Tombstone (1993), A-
- Aziz Ansari Live in Madison Square Garden (2015), B
- Phantasm (1979)
- Invasion of Astro-Monster aka Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero (1965), B+
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), C+
- Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017), B+
- Aliens (1986), A
- The Painted Hills (1951), D; MST3K Riff, A-
- Alien: Covenant (2017), C+
- The Mars Generation (2017), B
- The Prestige (2006), A-
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), A
- The Unknown Marx Brothers (1993), B-
- Knights of Badassdom (2013), B-
- Super (2010), B
- John Carter (2012), B+
- The Noose Hangs High (1948), B+
- Gargoyles (1972), C
- Starcrash (1978), D+; MST3K Riff, A
- The Land that Time Forgot (1975), D; MST3K Riff, B
- The Loves of Hercules (1960), D-; MST3K Riff, B
- Yongary, Monster From the Deep (1967), D+; MST3K Riff, B
- The Legend of Tarzan (2016), B
- The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues (1955), D
Looking ahead to 2017…
We’ve got 12 months of movies ahead of us. Now that we’ve looked back at 2016, let’s see what’s coming out this year that’s got me excited…
- The LEGO Batman Movie (Feb. 10). The first LEGO Movie was one of the most unexpected gems of the last few years. The trailers for this first spinoff look to be unfettered fun.
- John Wick Chapter 2 (Feb. 10). Another unexpected hit was the first John Wick movie. I can’t wait for the sequel.
- Logan (March 3). Hugh Jackman’s final turn as Wolverine looks like it’s going to be a much darker, more intense take on the character than we’ve seen before.
- Kong: Skull Island (March 10). With Legendary planning an MCU-style connection between this and their Godzilla franchise, I’m really looking forward to the new take on King Kong.
- Beauty and the Beast (March 17). Disney’s rash of live-action remakes of their classic animated films has been hit or miss for me, but Emma Watson as Belle is perfect casting. I’ve got high hopes for this one.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5). After a thrilling, joyful first film, I’m hoping director James Gunn can do the same with this one.
- Wonder Woman (June 2). It’s almost a crime that it’s taken this long for there to be a live-action Wonder Woman movie. Gal Gadot stole every scene of Batman V Superman, and I can’t wait to see this one.
- The Mummy (June 9). Universal is hoping to revive its classic monster franchise with (again) an MCU-style shared universe. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it works.
- Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7). Marvel and Sony coming to an agreement for Spider-Man is the best thing that could have happened for the character. Tom Holland rocked in Captain America: Civil War, and I’m hoping for more of that in this film.
- War For the Planet of the Apes (July 14). The first two films in the new Apes franchise were phenomenal — deep, thoughtful films with mesmerizing performances. I feel very good about this next one.
- Dunkirk (July 21). Christopher Nolan doing a World War I epic. How can you not be excited?
- The Dark Tower (July 28). Stephen King’s self-proclaimed “Magnum Opus” is a work that has a need personal meaning for me. I want this movie to be great. The casting is spot-on, although the information that’s come out so far leaves me wondering exactly what angle they’re intending to take on the material.
- It (Sept. 8). Another Stephen King adaptation. Although not as personal to me, it’s still a great book that had an okay TV adaptation. Can any film truly capture the novel?
- Thor: Ragnarok (Nov. 3). Although the Thor movies gave the MCU its most charismatic villain, they aren’t quite as memorable as the rest of the franchise. This time out, having Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange along for the ride may finally give us a great Thor movie.
- Justice League (Nov. 17). I’ve been waiting for this movie since I was a kid, and the promotional materials have looked fantastic. I can’t wait.
- Star Wars Episode VIII (Dec. 15). Little independent movie. You probably haven’t heard of it.
2014: The Year in Film
Favorite of the Year: Captain America-The Winter Soldier
It’s been quite a year. I got married. My wife and I put together a little home together. I directed one play, I’m currently in rehearsals for another. I wrote a new book that — God willing — will be available relatively early in 2015. And in the meantime, I managed to see a few movies.
Not all the movies, mind you. There are still several 2014 releases I haven’t seen yet, often because the aforementioned activities got in the way of my movie time. I still haven’t seen Boyhood, for instance, and I’m dying to. I’m delinquent in keeping up with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, and despite all my efforts to the contrary, I’ve yet to get around to The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
So consider this list highly incomplete. These are all the films from 2014 that I have seen, in order of my favorite to my least favorite. This includes direct-to-video and made-for-TV movies. I’ll leave comments for the ones where I have comments to leave.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Marvel has had a good year — a good couple of years, actually — but this to me was the movie that really elevated their universe beyond simple superhero action into something with greater depth and meaning.
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Similar to Captain America, this film took what Rise of the Planet of the Apes began and ran with it, creating a larger world and a highly intelligent, powerful science fiction film.
- Guardians of the Galaxy. This was just pure fun.
- X-Men: Days of Future Past. Easily the best X-Men film to date, and so good that it actually erases some of the sins of the previous films.
- The LEGO Movie. Again, pure fun, but with a surprising amount of heart to it.
- Gone Girl. Incredibly tense and engaging.
- Interstellar. One of the most engaging, entertaining pure sci-fi films in years
- Godzilla. Fantastic reboot of the franchise.
- Edge of Tomorrow. Great movie hurt by atrocious marketing.
- Big Hero 6.
- Stripped. Fine documentary about the comic strip form.
- I Am Santa Claus.
- St. Vincent.
- Doc of the Dead. Interesting documentary about zombie fiction.
- Stage Fright. Little seen but actually entertaining musical horror comedy about a slasher killer attacking a theater camp. It’s on Netflix streaming right now. Meatloaf is in it.
- A Merry Friggin’ Christmas. One of Robin Williams’s final performances, alongside Community‘s Joel McHale.
- Son of Batman.
- Justice League: War.
- Mr. Peabody and Sherman.
- Big Driver.
- Chilling Visions: 5 States of Fear. Okay anthology, but the premise holding the segments together is paper-thin.
- JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time.
- Maleficent. Could have been a great remake from the villain’s perspective, but a horribly invasive voice over and some poor performances really hurt.
- Print the Legend.
- Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
- Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. The original remains one of my favorites. This film seems like further proof that Frank Miller has lost his mind.
- Robocop. Unnecessary, lifeless remake.
- Lucky Duck. Treacle-filled animated kiddie film I watched with my niece. Just because a movie is targeted for children is no excuse for making it bad.
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2. After a first movie that I thought was just as good as — maybe better than — the Toby Maguire films, I couldn’t believe how utterly this one fell apart.
- I, Frankenstein.
- Happy Christmas. “Hey, you know all those dull, unscripted movies about obnoxious people who can’t get their lives together? Let’s make one at Christmas. And put Lena Dunham in it.”
- Sharknado 2: The Second One. In fairness, they weren’t trying to make a good movie. They succeeded.
- Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever. All I can say is that the title was accurate.
What I Watched in… August 2014
Favorite of the Month: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
In the interest of full disclosure (and to generate a little content here) I thought I’d present a regular tally of what movies I managed to see in the previous month. Some of them I’ve written about, most of them I haven’t. This list includes movies I saw for the first time, movies I’ve seen a thousand times, movies I saw in the theater, movies I watched at home, direct-to-DVD, made-for-TV and anything else that qualifies as a movie. I also choose my favorite of the month among those movies I saw for the first time, marked in red. Feel free to discuss or ask about any of them!
Showcase at the Movies: Guardians of the Galaxy
In this week’s Showcase podcast, my wife Erin and I talk about the newest comic book movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. Erin tackles it from the viewpoint of someone completely unfamiliar with the franchise, whereas I examine it as a longtime fan of the characters. We talk spoiler-free for a while, then put up a warning before we get spoiler-ful.
Gotta admit, it was hard to prevent this from just being 30 minutes of the two of us saying “I am Groot.”
The Summer Movie Preview
Hey, folks — as always, the All New Showcase podcast is kicking off the summer movie season with our special preview episode. This week, my fiance Erin and I talk about all the upcoming releases, which ones we’re psyched for, which ones we think are gonna suck, and so forth. Check it out!
Episode 304:The 2014 Summer Movie Preview
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- Favorite of the month: X-Men: Days of Future Past
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- Favorite of the Month: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
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- Favorite of the Month: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe-Now What?
This week in my podcast, All New Showcase Episode 301, I sit back with my frequent co-host Kenny and talk about what the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier mean for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. How is this going to change Agents of SHIELD? What’s going to be different in the Marvel movies and TV shows from now on? Where do they go from here? We get super-spoilery on everything Marvel has done, make predictions about the films and TV shows already in development, talk about those projects still in the rumor stage, and then give their own suggestions for what properties they’d like to see join the MCU! Plus: what other studios are trying to duplicate the MCU’s success?
If this is in your wheelhouse, friends, I kindly invite you to give it a listen.
Reel to Reel 