Here's a fun little game. Try to guess the countries represented in the first International Feature submission I've seen each year since starting this blog back in 2018. It's an interesting list. First was Shoplifters from Japan, followed in 2019 by Colombia's Monos. In 2020 the first entry was the eventual winner, Another Round, from … Continue reading A House Divided – How to Divorce During the War
In the interest of fairness and transparency, I feel I have to start this review of Nimrods, the new movie produced by punk rock band Green Day, by laying a TON of cards on the table. I am a huge, lifelong fan of Green Day. I know there are plenty of musical acts that objectively … Continue reading Hitchin’ a Ride – Nimrods
With the world being in the state it is, we often find ourselves in need of something, anything, that can distract from all the problems and anxieties we encounter on a daily basis. We're surrounded by existential dread in the forms of rising prices, eroding civil and human rights, and gaslighting from the very government … Continue reading The Thin Mint Line – Cookie Queens
When Spider-Man: No Way Home reached its epic conclusion five years ago, there was a bit of trepidation to go with the tragedy. Setting aside the basic impossibility of Doctor Strange truly eliminating all traces of Peter Parker from living memory and record (surely the video footage of Mysterio outing him still exists, among other … Continue reading Remember Me? – Spider-Man: Brand New Day
One of the reasons I love animation so much is that it's the only medium that can go to the most fantastical lengths to tell the most basic of stories. Limited only by the imagination of the artists who create it (and the corporate whims of their studio overlords at times), the majestically creative ways … Continue reading DownStream – Animation Humanization
Homer's Odyssey is one of the most dense stories ever conceived, but also one of the most fascinating I've ever read. A giant tome broken up into lengthy tangents and songs, the epic poem meanders for hundreds of pages, but you never lose track of what really matters for the overarching narrative: the grand scale … Continue reading The Sound of Fury – The Odyssey
You all know my history with the Despicable Me franchise. I loved the first film. I thought the second was alright, but nothing special. I hated the third. I was grateful that the fourth was adequate and competent, mostly because the Minions spinoff movies were just the worst. I admit I occasionally chuckled at the … Continue reading Banana-bylon – Minions & Monsters
So... I did another thing. Exactly five years ago, I launched a YouTube channel as a companion piece to this blog. The first video was a ranking of all the Pixar films that had been released at that point. It was just me sitting in front of my webcam and riffing for about 90 minutes. … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Discussing Disney
One of the biggest ways that the modern comic book movie has changed the course of film storytelling is also one of the more subtle. While the post-credit tag scene wasn't invented by the genre (hell, the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie had one), the Marvel Cinematic Universe truly brought it into the mainstream, using … Continue reading A Krypto Scam – Supergirl
By now you all know my feelings about the Toy Story franchise. The original trilogy (the fact that I can use that phrase in multiple contexts is emblematic of the problems with modern Hollywood) are all-time classics, with Toy Story 3 ending things on the most perfect note imaginable. And then we did Toy Story … Continue reading Jessie’s Girls – Toy Story 5
I Actually Paid To See This 