Clint Eastwood is one of the great modern filmmakers, a man whose directing talents have landed him many Oscar nominations and widespread critical acclaim. Those accolades don’t usually extend to his work in front of the camera, however; it may be the parts he often played in his younger days, the...
Read MoreJessica Jones, the second of Marvel’s Netflix series to explore the darker street-level corridors of the MCU, is a surprisingly adult-themed endeavor, using the gritty world established in Daredevil as a springboard to tell a story of victimization and how different people survive it in different ...
Read MoreThe other day I was talking to a friend and he brought up the idea that there’s no such thing as a perfect movie, arguing that the best films have flaws that enhance them rather than sully them. In principle, I disagree with this (a Hitchens quote comes to mind: “It’s only true if you …...
Read MoreSince its inception, the Kelvin Timeline – that is, the alternate timeline that has encompassed Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond – has been a real shot in the arm for the Star Trek brand, allowing the new films to simultaneously honor what has come before while forg...
Read MoreThe straight man is the unsung hero of comedy, the guy who forgoes getting the best laughs in order to set up his co-stars for the show-stopping gags, elevating the scene or sketch while seeming to be background noise. This is true, at least, at the best of times; when performed improperly, the stra...
Read More*Author’s Note: Like my article on Captain America, this piece was written before I saw Avengers: Age of Ultron and I decided not to alter it to accommodate that film.* Starting with Iron Man back in 2008, Marvel decided to bring the world of comic books to movie screens in a way no one had &h...
Read More