A few years ago, I had an idea to do reviews of all of the Marvel movies. I still have drafts of quite a few of them, but around the time I saw the first Infinity War movie, I realized something important: I'm not that into the MCU. I mean, I like it fine, the… Continue reading Weapons are Weapons – Iron Man
Now I know what you're thinking: Hat, what are you doing? Why would you review Spider-Man 3 without having reviewed the first two Spider-Man films? It's not even new, it came out in 2007. It's the bad one. Where's our Umbrella Academy review? And yes, of course all of those are very valid points. (The… Continue reading “It’s Hip, It’s Wow, It’s Now, And How!” – Spider-Man 3
Dystopian science fiction has an uncanny ability to come up with entertaining concepts that can contain far more narrative space than they ought to have. Such is the case with Snowpiercer, a 2013 film that I remember touted as a bit of an indie production by Bong Joon-ho that few in the U.S. saw when… Continue reading Break the Engine – Snowpiercer
A few years back, I was in an introductory filmmaking program. This was not crucial to my degree (which is in rocks), but it was fun, and if we finished up with our projects for the day with time to spare, the instructors would show us films they thought demonstrated parts of the craft uncommonly… Continue reading Lessons in Adaptation: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Fantasy is a genre of imagination, one where creators and audiences alike are free to dream up any world with any rules they want. I think we forget this sometimes, in our efforts to make worlds that prioritize excitement and believably. Fantasies can be about more than self-aggrandizement and dreams of power; they can also… Continue reading Wholesome Dinosaur Fantasy? YES PLS! – Dinotopia (Miniseries)
I might as well jump on the retrospective bandwagon and start up an annual (fingers crossed) awards series. Now, my first instinct was to opt for the best releases of the year, but while I've done plenty of catching up on shows I've been watching (for the most part), I tend to be actively bad… Continue reading 2019 Honestly Amazing Thing Awards – Breakfast Recommendations #3
I like dragons. Rather a lot, actually. There was a stretch when I was about seven or eight where I refused to read anything that didn't have an animal on the cover, and if that animal was a dragon, I might actually finish the book. I think a lot of kids have this experience, or… Continue reading An Underrated Mess – Eragon (film)
As may be obvious by now, I’m using November to buff up my backlog and get a bit of practice in writing reviews on a tighter deadline. I’m definitely not doing this to cheat at NaNoWriMo. Anyway, this one is going to be basic because I’ve already talked about it — or about its source… Continue reading Real Life Looks Worse – Watchmen (film)
Every year or so for the past few years, we've gotten at least one major cerebral sci-fi film that weaves effects and story beautifully within the format. This is not one of those, not really, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise. On its surface, Cloud Atlas looks like either a heady space opera or… Continue reading I Was Promised a Book About Meteorology – Cloud Atlas
We think a lot about aliens. Look at the films in theatres right now, and you can bet at least a handful of them will feature creatures or beings from other planets, worlds, or dimensions. Usually the heroes are fighting with the aliens, sometimes they're fighting for the aliens, but rarely is much of the… Continue reading Here – Arrival
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