Now that the autumn leaves have officially fallen, it’s the perfect time to reflect on this summer’s movie season. This year’s crop of blockbuster releases (or wanna-be blockbusters – looking at you, The Lone Ranger) feels like a mixed bag of quality. Some films proved themselves worthy of the hype (This Is the End, Star Trek Into Darkness) while others were more lackluster affairs that failed to match the significant pre-release buzz (World War Z, Elysium). Still, few films managed to capture the essence of what made summer films so popular to begin with.
The birth of the crowd-pleasing, popcorn-munching summer film arguably took place in May 1977 with a little film called Star Wars (though a case could be made for Jaws, which predates it by two years). George Lucas’ space opera took audiences by surprise, transporting them to a world they’ve never seen and providing what still stands as one of the most unabashedly fun films of all time. The Avengers unquestionably owned that title last year, and while Man of Steel may perhaps be my personal favorite Hollywood blockbuster of the season, no film released in summer 2013 embodies that sense of escapist entertainment as well as Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. Here’s why. Continue reading Why ‘Pacific Rim’ Was the Event Film of Summer 2013 (Sorry, ‘Man of Steel’)→
The twin apexes of the superhero genre are undeniably Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Joss Whedon’s The Avengers. While the former proved that a film about a costumed hero can truly be art, the latter broke the mold for how comic books can be brought to life, converging several franchises into one blockbuster event. However, one great distinction needs to be made about both films: they’re rated PG-13.
Even while some of Nolan’s trilogy strays close to extreme violence, the truth is that R-rated superhero films have yet to establish themselves as reliable box office draws. The mediocre box office performance of films like Dredd and Watchmen underscore an apparent hesitation from audiences to embrace R-rated superheroes. So the fact that Kick-Ass 2 even exists at all is a bit of an anomaly. Continue reading Review: ‘Kick-Ass 2’→
As a film fanatic in general, I’m usually open to checking out releases of any genre, but today’s cinematic landscape is so polluted to senseless remakes and sequels that it makes any whiff of originality even stronger by comparison. Very rarely do I come across a film that truly attempts to do something truly creative and, in many ways, innovative with its storytelling.
Worse still, these gems often go overlooked, under-appreciated and lacking in the recognition they deserve. This, I assume, is how films first began earning cult followings, as some releases are perhaps too ahead of their time and think too “outside the box” to capture the affection of the general movie-going public. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is one such film.
