— by ROB COX — It’s not difficult to believe that Tom Cruise was once slated to star in the upcoming spy thriller “Salt.” The latest trailer for this story about an American spy wrongfully identified as a Russian double agent looks like run-of-the-mill stuff. The clip[...]
Author Archive
Who Might Assemble ‘The Avengers’?
— by BEN FOWLER — When it comes to the dream directing gig of the decade, it doesn’t come much better than helming the planned Avengers film. But who of the top Hollywood filmmakers should be getting a call from Marvel sometime soon? I’ll start off by saying who I feel is the[...]
Trailer Talk: ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’
— by ROB COX — Since 2002’s original “Resident Evil,” I’ve mostly avoided this series. I remember leaving the theater after that film thoroughly underwhelmed, thinking there was no place for the series to go beyond developing into an uninspired retread of the zombie genre[...]
Elemental, Terrifying and Legendary: The Impact of Batman
— by CHAS BLANKENSHIP — The year was 1939…May, to be exact…and a breath was being held. Cartoonist Bob Kane, along with writer Bill Finger and editor Victor Sullivan, had a chance taken by DC Comics on a creation of Kane’s own making. It was a character made by Kane in the[...]
Trailer Talk: ‘La Belle Visite’ (aka ‘The Beautiful Visitor’)
— by JOSIANE OCHMAN — This was a fortuitous trailer clip for me to review since this documentary hails from Quebec and I’ve just completed an article on French-Canadian cinema and how loved and appreciated the films are in Quebec. This one’s not a work of fiction but a[...]
A Short History of the Jutra: Quebec’s Very Own Oscars
— by JOSIANE OCHMAN — The Jutra is the French-Canadian equivalent of the Oscars and is intended to celebrate all aspects of French-Canadian cinema, which happens to be a thriving industry in Quebec. It was named for Claude Jutra, one of Quebec’s most celebrated filmmakers who died [...]
Investigate Batman with It’s Just Movies
— by CHAS BLANKENSHIP — Throughout April and May, Chas Blankenship will embark on an odyssey through over 70 years of history … analyzing, critiquing and reviewing every facet concerning the legacy of Batman; arguably the single most popular literary character of all time. From [...]
Under Review: ‘Cooking with Stella’
— by JOEL CRARY — “Cooking with Stella” is a smug, uneven little film that pulls us in with its wacky misunderstandings and musical score out of a Friday night sitcom to knife us in the back with a venomous, loaded social message. If Ruba Nadda’s “Cairo Time” served as a Canadi[...]
If I Was Making … ‘The Flash’
— by BEN FOWLER — The Scarlet Speedster is, I feel, one of the most under-rated DC Comics properties. The character is ripe for the silver-screen treatment and, thanks to comicbook legend, Geoff Johns, The Flash may be finally getting what he deserves. If, in the style of Dr. Sam Beckett[...]
Trailer Talk: ‘When You’re Strange’
— by ROB COX — When I first read about this film and saw Johnny Depp’s name attached, I didn’t realize it was a documentary. Johnny Depp as Jim Morrison? It’s hard to imagine anyone giving a more interesting, more uncanny portrayal of Morrison than Val Kilmer did in Oliver Stone’[...]
Poster Peek: ‘MacGruber’
— by ROB COX — With few exceptions, “Saturday Night Live” skits don’t translate well to the big screen. The biggest reason for that, I think, is the short, almost-gimmicky nature of the average SNL skit. SNL writers, generally speaking, probably don’t consider later adapt[...]
Review: The Eclipse
— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI — The romance genre is known for being feminine. Its reoccurring themes include newly-discovered love, passion and, of course, heartbreak. When watching any sort of romantic film, one can expect to see at least one scene where the protagonists intensely kiss in the[...]
Spend Christmas with Harold and Kumar
— by ROB COX — “Entertainment Weekly” confirmed recently that actor Kal Penn is leaving his post with the Obama Administration as associate director of public engagement (whatever that is; who wouldn’t want to leave that for a film career?) to resume his acting career. [...]
Under Review: ‘Clash of the Titans’
— by MARIUSZ ZUBROWSKI — Mythology has never been my forte. What basic knowledge I do have stems from one place – not school – but Hollywood. It sounds like blasphemy, but films exploit the histories of a plethora of different branches of mythology, but especially Greek mythology and[...]