#movies

Opinion - Scorsese and Coppola Vs. the MCU: Are we focusing on the wrong argument?

SMR

Oct 25, 2019
10 min

Opinion - Scorsese and Coppola Vs. the MCU: Are we focusing on the wrong argument?

There’s been a lot of buzz lately to a topic that has been discussed in one way or another ever since the concept proved successful beyond anyone’s imagination: Are the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies cinema? While the last couple of months have seen auteurs Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola deride and insult the venture, this isn’t exactly a new thing. Back in 2015, Steven Spielberg faced nerd ire when he predicted that not only would Superhero movies go the way of

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SMR

Aug 17, 2019
7 min

Movie Review - Hellboy (2019)

It’s not horrible. Per se. In some ways, much like what I had to say regarding X-Men: Dark Phoenix, it really seems to be that nerd culture needs to calm the fuck down. No, the new Hellboy is not as visually stunning as Guillermo del Toro’s two prior films in the series, but Neil Marshall has delivered some damn fine horror movies in the past: The Descent parts 1 & 2 and Dog Soldiers come quickly to mind…and really deserves the benefit of the doubt here. In addition, well,

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SMR

Jul 28, 2019
6 min

Movie Review - Shazam

So…how do you follow up a billion dollar fish story? Well, if you’re DC Films and Warner Bros, you cross the old 80s film Big with Superman resulting in Shazam. Sadly, this resulted in crickets from the audience…as Shazam only managed to pull in just over $364 million at the worldwide box office. Making it, thus far, the lowest earner of the DCEU. Ouch. Wanna put a little extra sting on it? Critics actually liked it. A lot. Like, 91% certified fresh a lot…putting it second

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SMR

Jul 23, 2019
6 min

Movie Review - Aquaman

Crap…can’t believe I forgot to write up a review for this. So, coming to the box office a year and some change after the mixed bag that was Justice League was DC’s next stab at finding an audience with a superhero that had been the brunt of many jokes since his SuperFriends days…and likely even before that. Aquaman. Now, this was actually all part of the plan…when it still existed. From Justice League, solo movies for Aquaman, the Flash and Cyborg were to spin out from that.

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Movie Review - Spider-Man: Far From Home

SMR

Jul 20, 2019
6 min

Movie Review - Spider-Man: Far From Home

There are only seven stories in the world, as the saying goes…and if you’re the second film of a superhero series, it’s a good bet you’re gonna lose something. And sure enough, we find that here in Spider-Man: Far From Home. To be fair, though, the fact that this second MCU Spider-Man film did indeed adhere to the usual tropes of a superhero sequel didn’t really occur to me until after I’d walked out of the theater. And as such, we have to look at that saying once again: if

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SMR

Jul 12, 2019
5 min

Movie Review - The Dark Tower

“The man in black fled into the desert and the gunslinger followed.” It’s from this single sentence that Stephen King’s massive Dark Tower series of books sprang forth, spanning 8 volumes and 4,250 pages. Influenced by Tolkien, Arthurian legend and ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’, it also serves to provide a loose framework containing hints or elements of Stephen King’s other works, in some ways shaping a multiverse comprised of all his stories. With elements of fantasy, s

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SMR

Jul 6, 2019
23 min

Opinion - #ReleaseTheSnyderCut

In going back over my initial Justice League review, wow…I can’t believe I left out the Russians. You know what I mean, the Russian family in the third act…essentially the Ewoks of the DCEU? [Actually, less so. At least the Ewoks did something. – Ed.] I understand the dramatic crutch they serve, heroes look more heroic when they’re saving someone, and given the flak the DCEU had gotten ever since Man of Steel (which I always felt was misplaced) as well as the reactionary

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SMR

Jun 28, 2019
8 min

Movie Review - X-Men: Dark Phoenix

You know, personally, I think most reviewers are just butt-hurt over the fact that Wolverine’s not in this one. But, truth be told, people in general don’t like attending a funeral and if X-Men: Dark Phoenix is anything, it is a funeral, both for some of the characters within the film and for the Fox franchise that has run for 20 years. And that’s really the rub here: the film was touted by Fox as the triumphant close of an era and directly compared to Avengers: Endgame. Bu

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Movie Review - Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

SMR

Jun 24, 2019
5 min

Movie Review - Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)

Better, Warner Bros. Better. Yeah, there are still some nits to pick, and we’ll get to those, but it’s encouraging to see that when it comes to the new Godzilla: King of the Monsters, someone (actually more than one) can actually do their damn homework. You see, for a while now, I’ve been wondering how does one make a kaiju film in a post-Shin Godzilla world? [You really need to sit and review that. – Ed.] I mean, sure, Kong: Skull Island was released shortly thereafter bu

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SMR

May 31, 2019
4 min

Movie Review - Brightburn

Talk about your ‘Red Son’… Sure, it can be easy to simply dismiss, or advertise, Brightburn as ‘Superman as a slasher film’…and it does hold to the tenets of a slasher film, certainly…but to do that kind of undersells it. Instead, and I’m definitely going to show my nerd credentials here, when this film is viewed as almost a multiversal companion piece to either Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie or Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, we end up with a fascinating ‘What If…?’ that

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SMR

Mar 23, 2019
8 min

Movie Review - Captain Marvel

Since you’re likely a nerd reading this site, I’m hoping I won’t have to overly explain myself with the following analogy. You know how every so often (once or twice a year for DC, once or twice a week for Marvel) there’s a line-wide crossover…’Worlds live, worlds die and nothing will EVER be the same’, that sort of deal? In these, there are the peripheral tie-ins, maybe making some mention of the great cataclysm that everyone else seems to be participating in or focusing o

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SMR

Dec 15, 2018
6 min

Movie Review: Bumblebee

Paramount and I have walked a similar path. Have you ever found yourself in a relationship where it stopped being satisfying a long time ago, but you held on anyway because you were convinced that this was the best you could do? Then, at some point, you finally get triggered, one way or another, to finally break things off and go it alone…fearful of what you’re leaving behind and how lonely the future looks…only to find everything you’ve ever wanted just a short time later?

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Now Showing on Midway Screen 2: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

SMR

Sep 10, 2018
7 min

Now Showing on Midway Screen 2: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

I’m a part of a dying breed. Sure, usually when I say that, I’m depressed or speaking hyperbolically…or both. But given the steady downward trend in the population of Drive-In theaters, only around 330 remain and there ARE states that have none, yes, those of us who have partaken in the drive-in experience are similarly dropping in number. Now, I’m not going to retread someone else’s turf here, there is a patron saint of the Drive-In in the person of Joe Bob Briggs. So, ho

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Nuking The Podcat - Episode 9: The Calamari Wrestler

SMR

Aug 28, 2018
2 min

Nuking The Podcat - Episode 9: The Calamari Wrestler

[Note: This podcast is track 5 on the player above. Even though it’s episode 9. Yes, we know. We can count…kinda.] Hey, remember when we did a podcast? [Likely they’ve been trying really hard to forget. Possibly resulting in substance abuse. Given that when you two jokers turned this in I cracked open a bottle of whiskey…who am I to judge? – Ed.] Ahem. Anyway…WE’RE BACK! Yes, we know this is episode 9. We wanted to get the new hotness out there right away…and then we’ll

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Field Trip! Marvel: A Universe of Superheroes Exhibit at MoPop

SMR

Aug 23, 2018
4 min

Field Trip! Marvel: A Universe of Superheroes Exhibit at MoPop

With the continued dominance of Marvel Studios at the cinemas, as well as the ever-increasing weight of the House of Mouse behind them, I’ll be honest something like this didn’t come up sooner. Still, the above statement is a bit unfair…as it implies that the Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes exhibit now at the Museum of Popular Culture (MoPop) in Seattle deals strictly with the MCU and that’s not entirely the case. Sure, there are plenty of costumes and props from the aforem

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The Joe Bob Briggs Experience: Port Orchard and Shudder's The Last Drive-In

SMR

Jul 17, 2018
11 min

The Joe Bob Briggs Experience: Port Orchard and Shudder's The Last Drive-In

It was total happenstance. I’d just come off of the BoneBat Comedy of Horrors Film Festival and, aside from the parking debacle [Detailed here. – Ed.] I’d enjoyed myself. I had been surrounded by like-minded folks and even though I’m pretty socially awkward and didn’t talk to a soul there (aside from Lowell Dean, director of motherfucking WOLFCOP!)…I felt like I belonged. It felt great. Although I wasn’t out searching for another experience like that…well, events have a way

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SMR

Jun 2, 2018
6 min

Movie Review - Solo: A Star Wars Story

Meh. The sound of indifference. The sound you make when you don’t necessarily want the time you just spent back…but you could think of a few better ways you could’ve spent it. It opens the door for so many avenues of ‘damning with faint praise’. And for me, it should never be the sound coming from me as I exit a Star Wars movie. Yet…here we are. Now, to be fair, with all of the behind-the-scenes drama Solo: A Star Wars Story had, comparable only to Justice League…and even t

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SMR

May 15, 2018
5 min

Movie Review - Another Wolfcop

It had eluded me for ages. First, there was a double header in Vancouver…but the stupid day job prevented me from going. Then…there was nothing. Silence. Screenings were still being held…but in Alberta…and that was a bit too far to drive. On a fluke, I just happened to catch a Tweet: BoneBat film festival…Another Wolfcop…Seattle…April 14th. Scramble to look at work schedule…I WAS OFF! Scramble to get tickets…no…no waiting for idiot friend to make up his mind…this was W

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SMR

Apr 27, 2018
5 min

Movie Review - Avengers: Infinity War

This is what pisses me off. You had every chance, Warner Brothers…you really did. You remember that time you beat Marvel to the punch and brought out a superheroine? Remember all the critical praise and box office that brought you? If you’d left Justice League alone, let it be two parts and let Zack Snyder just do it…you COULD have done something this AWESOME and done it BEFORE Marvel. But no. You had absolutely ZERO BALLS. [Hey! Hey! Put the DC Fanboy back in the cage

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SMR

Apr 3, 2018
4 min

Movie Review - Pacific Rim: Uprising

Pacific Rim: Uprising commits, for me, two cardinal sins of cinema that makes reviewing the movie difficult. You see, all the robot on robot and robot on kaiju action we see in the trailers is indeed just as awesome as you’d hope…but given that the first of the aforementioned sins takes place within the first 15 minutes of the movie…ugh. As a viewer, I had to fight to get through this one…or at the very least, just hang on with all I could until another action scene took pl

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