Month: August 2016

REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Theatrical Release Poster - Warner Bros.
Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros.

The following spoiler-filled review of The Dark Knight Rises was written in August 2016

I don’t think I have ever mentioned this on the blog before, but I’ve only seen The Dark Knight Rises three times. Once in the movie theater, once on Blu-Ray, and once yesterday when I rewatched it for this review. I really liked it when I first saw it in theaters, but, when I rewatched it for the first time, it didn’t work on me as well as it had previously. Following this latest rewatch, I will say immediately that it definitely is not as disappointing as my memory had conjured up. Look, I’m not going to come out and say that this film is an ‘underappreciated masterpiece’ or anything like that — not at all. This film still has its problems. But when I finished rewatching the film last night, I had to admit that maybe I had been a bit too harsh on it for the last couple of years. The online vocal minority has begun to really criticize this film in recent years, but while The Dark Knight Rises definitely doesn’t come close to the quality of the first two films in the Dark Knight Trilogy, I do think it is still a solid ending to an excellent trilogy. Continue reading “REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)” →

RETRO REVIEW: The Dark Knight (2008)

Theatrical Release Poster - Warner Bros.
Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros.

The following spoiler-filled retro review of The Dark Knight was written in August 2016

I saw this film in a movie theater, but I don’t quite remember how I felt after I first saw it. What I do remember, quite clearly actually, was that my sister bought the Blu-Ray for me as a Christmas gift. I think The Dark Knight is a haunting superhero movie masterpiece, but, for a specific reason, I don’t often sit down to watch it.

I’ve always thought Heath Ledger was an exceptionally entertaining actor, and it was tough for me to hear that the world had lost him when we did. Although he was brilliant in Brokeback Mountain and while I was never worried about what he would do with the Joker character, this performance remains one of the most surprisingly magnificent performances that I’ve ever seen. The Dark Knight wouldn’t be a masterpiece without Heath Ledger’s performance. Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: The Dark Knight (2008)” →

RETRO REVIEW: Batman Begins (2005)

Batman Begins Poster
Theatrical Release Poster – Warner Bros.

The following retro review of Batman Begins was written in August 2016.

I grew up with many different takes on a live-action Batman and Bruce Wayne. Michael Keaton. Val Kilmer. George Clooney. But it wasn’t until I saw Christian Bale in Batman Begins that I loved, I don’t just mean liked, a live-action version of the character. When I first saw Batman Begins, I hadn’t seen Bale in a lot of films (probably just American Psycho and Reign of Fire), but when I saw Bale as Bruce Wayne I was just overjoyed this was going to be my Batman – like I, at that time, saw Roger Moore as my James Bond. Continue reading “RETRO REVIEW: Batman Begins (2005)” →

9 Masterpieces – The Collection #8

Lawrence of Arabia - Collection

  • Rear Window (1954) – Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
  • Lawrence of Arabia (1962) – Directed by David Lean.
  • The Godfather (1972) – Directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
  • Taxi Driver (1976) – Directed by Martin Scorsese.
  • Toy Story (1995) – Directed by John Lasseter.
  • The Pianist (2002) – Directed by Roman Polanski.
  • Toy Story 3 (2010) – Directed by Lee Unkrich.
  • Jagten (2012) – Directed by Thomas Vinterberg.
  • Inside Out (2015) – Directed by Pete Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen.
    Continue reading “9 Masterpieces – The Collection #8” →

Box Office Predictions – August 2016

Box Office Prediction

NORTH AMERICAN OPENING WEEKEND PREDICTIONS:

  • Suicide Squad – Warner Bros. – August 5th, 2016 – $120-130 million
  • Pete’s Dragon – Buena Vista – August 12th, 2016 – $32-37 million
  • Sausage Party – Sony/Columbia – August 12th, 2016 – $25-30 million
  • Ben-Hur – Paramount – August 19th, 2016 – $15-18 million

Why Suicide Squad will make more money in its opening weekend than Guardians of the Galaxy did:

Continue reading “Box Office Predictions – August 2016” →

REVIEW: Preacher – “Call and Response”

Preacher Review Outline

The following is a spoiler review of the tenth episode of ‘Preacher’, available on AMC in the United States and on Viaplay in Denmark.

In the season finale of the first season of Preacher (“Call and Response”), Jesse (played by Dominic Cooper) calls God, Tulip (played by Ruth Negga) presents Carlos to Jesse, Cassidy (played by Joseph Gilgun) gets tortured, and the inhabitants of Annville finally get some answers. Continue reading “REVIEW: Preacher – “Call and Response”” →

REVIEW: Captain Fantastic (2016)

Captain Fantastic Poster - Blue
Release Poster – Bleecker Street

The following is a review of Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic.

“Power to the people. Stick it to the man.” – In Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic, Ben Cash (played by Viggo Mortensen), who lives in a forest with his wife and their six children, gets the news that his wife has taken her own life while she was at a hospital. Ben’s father-in-law (played by Frank Langella) is upset with Ben, and he feels that Ben is to blame for the loss of his daughter.

Despite warnings that his father-in-law will have him arrested, and seek custody of the children, if Ben attends his wife’s funeral, the Cash-family go on a road trip to New Mexico for the funeral. On their way, Ben’s children learn what it’s like to live in the real world, while the actions of their father are brought into question.
Continue reading “REVIEW: Captain Fantastic (2016)” →