I first saw (500) Days of Summer when I was eighteen. Fresh outta high school, I was one of five people in the theater. I loved it, and would go on to watch it in theaters two more times when I moved to Singapore a month later, and then again when I bought it on… Continue reading But For Different Reasons
Tag: (500) Days of Summer
But What About The Men???
I write a lot about women in fiction on this blog, to the point where I’ve had friends term it a feminist blog. But if you’ve ever wondered “jeez, Josh, you keep talking about women this and feminism that, what about the men!?”, well, this rant essay is for you. One of the many things… Continue reading But What About The Men???
Meaning Upon Meaning
Every movie monster in the book has some sort of sociocultural commentary associated with it. Zombies are the embodiment of a fear of conformist consumer culture, vampires are the elite rich who drain the life of the poor, werewolves are your neighbor’s double life, Godzilla is nuclear terror made real. A lot of fun can… Continue reading Meaning Upon Meaning
A Manic Pixie Dream Problem
You know the story. Boy’s stuck in the doldrums of life. Girl shows up. Is quirky. Her quirkiness brings boy out of the normal world. They fall in love. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl has done her job. The Manic Pixie Dream Girl is a term to describe a female character archetype whose purpose is… Continue reading A Manic Pixie Dream Problem
The Reels Are Alive With The Sound Of Diegetic Music
Here’s a word that no one uses unless they want to sound smarter than you: diegesis, that is the type of story that’s told by a narrator. Which means what, exactly? Well, in The Princess Bride the Grandfather is performing an act of diegesis when he tells the Grandson the story. The interactions he has with the… Continue reading The Reels Are Alive With The Sound Of Diegetic Music
For Want of a Glass of Water
Kurt Vonnegut once said, “every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” This piece of advice functions as a very simple and straightforward way to ensure a character has some semblance of depth. What's important about a goal? A goal gives a character purpose and gives an audience a… Continue reading For Want of a Glass of Water
Playing With Expectations
In celebration of the wonder of Netflix, I decided to watch Drinking Buddies the other night. The premise is nothing new, Luke and Kate are coworkers with incredible chemistry who are, unfortunately, in relationships with other people. What makes the movie such a joy is how the film plays with this idea. All the building… Continue reading Playing With Expectations
I Didn’t Get Blue Is the Warmest Color
There. I said it. A lot of press surrounds Blue Is the Warmest Color for one reason or another, and with it winning a bunch of awards and ranking on some year end movie lists, I decided to see what all the fuss was about. Long story short, I wasn’t a huge fan. Short story… Continue reading I Didn’t Get Blue Is the Warmest Color
Relationship Advice from Scott Pilgrim
Scott Pilgrim vs The World is one of my favorite movies. There’s the video game-y nature of it; a world that’s realistically unrealistic where fights look like Street Fighter and people explode into coins. With that, Edgar Wright and team put a great deal of love into making it; sound effects are borrowed everywhere from… Continue reading Relationship Advice from Scott Pilgrim
Formulaic Formulas
There are a lot of people who, when it comes to movies, say there’s a distinct formula to how everything works. Some people blanch at the thought, others say it’s blame for the derivative nature of, y’know, everything. Well, there is a formula. Sort of: there are these certain moments you can use to plot… Continue reading Formulaic Formulas
Essays, Not Rants! 