When I was five-years-old my dad took me and my little brother to see “Jaws” on a Sunday afternoon in Port Washington, New York. It scared me beyond belief! That night I slept in a little ball because I was afraid if I put my legs out the shark would bite them off, and was certain the blue carpet in my room would turn to water while I slept and the shark would get me then. Little did I know that while I lied there in my bed terrified, a seed had been planted.
All movies start with a pitch. A writer will pitch an idea to a studio executive and then that exec will decide if the concept is worth pursuing. In the case of “Renfield”, Robert Kirkman, the creator of “The Walking Dead” came up with the idea of basing a movie around Dracula’s obsequious assistant. The character has been around Bram Stoker’s book but Renfield has never been the focus of a story.
Mention the Fast and Furious franchise to moviegoers and you’ll likely get an eye roll from a lot of them. Ridiculous as they may be at times, there is no arguing the box office success of the movies for the last 22 years. Those same people dismissing the films are still going to see them. “Fast X”, the tenth in the series is now here and it may rank as one of the best of them.
Of all the franchises in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Ant-Man has been the weakest. The problem has never been with Paul Rudd’s portrayal of the hero, nor with Evangeline Lilly who plays Hope Van Dyne aka “The Wasp”. The biggest issue with the first two films is they both had extremely lame villains.
M. Night Shyamalan was once one of Hollywood’s hottest filmmakers. His name was a bigger draw than any actor who may be starring in one of his projects. One article even dubbed him, “The Next Steven Spielberg?” Perhaps that was the beginning of his downfall because as big M. Night was, he was just as suddenly not. A string of both commercially and critic flops will do that.
Happy New Year and welcome to January, a month known for being a dumping ground as studios release their worst movies of the year. In December, when critics put together lists of awful movies; you can bet that the films of January will be on that list. It is also likely that the very first release of the new year will be horror film. This year is no exception, as “M3GAN”, a “Child’s Play” meets “A.I” story, hits the theaters.
There is a quote on “The Simpsons” from Grandpa. When told he is no longer “with it” he replies, “I used to be with it, but then they change what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you!” Well, it’s happened to me. “Easter Sunday” opens today and stars Jo Koy who is one of the hottest comedians performing. He is selling out arenas….
The Director is an important asset to any movie. About twelve years ago, studios started hiring film directors who made one good independent film. They drafted these Directors to work on their blockbuster projects. For example Marc Webb who directed “500 Days of Summer” was given The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. As a result Andrew Garfield never got his third solo Spidy film.
Sequels are the bread and butter to Hollywood studios. The only thing better than having a hit movie on your hands is the ability to slap a number “2” at the end of it. However, there are only so many stories you can tell when you get to the higher single digit numbers so the executives found something new, they could make a buck off, spinoffs! One of the most beloved
Sometimes, not often, I go into a new movie and know nothing about it. I’ve never seen a trailer, I have not read about the plot.,I don’t even know who’s in it or who made it. It’s a little exciting because usually when we go to a theater, we have some idea of what we are about to see. I can find myself pleasantly surprised or bored out of my skull. “Resurrection”,
Original horror movies can be hard to come by. Earlier this year we got a new Scream, a Texas Chainsaw Massacre and in October another Halloween is coming out. “The Black Phone”, now playing is a great example of horror filmmaking. It is based on the short story by Joe Hill who is the son of Stephen King and it is easy to say that the
It’s finally happened! Marvel fatigue has finally started to set in. After 14 years, 29 movies and a number of television shows, it was bound to happen. This may not be true for all fans. There are fanboys who believe that the studio can do no wrong and laps up everything that they release. However, there is no denying that the new Phase 4
Sign up email to get our new movie reviews and other articles when they come out (coming soon)
