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I have written many times about my aggravation with film sequels and reboots, and I’m sure I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. Such films are a substitute for good writing and good marketing. I’ve laid the blame on bad marketing before, but how should one market films? Well, you […]
I know, join the club. (Is there one? A Tom Cruise anti-fan club?) I have liked him in just about every film I’ve seen him in. “Top Gun”, “The Color of Money”, “Rain Man”, “A Few Good Men”, “The Firm”, “Interview with the Vampire”, “Eyes Wide Shut”, “Minority Report”, “Oblivion”, and “Edge of Tomorrow”. I […]
There is yet another fucking Batman film out, The Batman. I gather that this one extra gothy and emo or something, but I don’t know, because I haven’t even been interested in watching the trailers. I have already written plenty here about my distaste for sequels ad infinitum, so I won’t repeat myself. My point […]
[I have evidently written about this topic before.] So says William Goldman about what makes a film successful. The same is evidently true about film marketing. Yet, I wonder how hard people have tried, because when I see a film, it’s usually quite obvious to me whether it is good or not. And as for […]
Isaac Asimov was well aware of the natural human tendency to fear things that appear kind of human, but aren’t quite. He went out of his way to show that robots wouldn’t be dangerous, simply because the people who made them would ensure that they aren’t. His Three Laws of Robotics aren’t the result of […]
Short films are short because they skimp on components that are required in feature-length films, or they cut them out completely. Character Development: This is the most common omission. We often know just enough about the character to be able to tell the story. In a bad short film, we know even less about the […]
I watched the first episode of Shadow and Bone last night. I had to force myself to watch the whole thing, and I have no intention of watching any more. The show made what is becoming a classic mistake of trying to introduce too much too fast. It reminded me of Suicide Squad, which tried […]
I really need to stop watching movies I missed in my youth. They are mostly disappointing. Case in point, The Lost Boys. I was expecting something deep and profound. Instead, it was an R-rated kid movie with Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. On the whole, the direction was nearly adequate. Corey Feldman’s rendition was awful. […]
I haven’t read enough film scripts. One I have read is the screenplay for Trumbo, written by John McNamara. I read it before having watched the film, and it moved me: to feel sadness, joy, and pride for the characters, and to shed actual tears. I’m no expert, but I would call that good writing. […]
I started watching Top of the Lake, mainly because it’s a British police procedural, and because it has Elisabeth Moss in it. I’m only one episode in, but it’s definitely weird. I hope the dominant, entitled drug lord trope turns out to be less cliché than seems so far. Anyway, there’s a character, GJ, who […]
