As I alluded to next week, Prey is an excellent movie. Set in the early 1700s, it follows a group of Comanche warriors as they fight back against the alien Predator. It very much keeps with the spirit of the original Predator, in that it’s more of a thriller movie than an action movie wherein… Continue reading Predator/Prey
Tag: Movies
Finding Joy
It feels odd to write a pop-culture focused blog right now, especially with the everything going on these days. Writing an essay about a movie or video game feels so futile when I’d much rather rail against an illegitimate court or decry ineffectual politicians doing nothing to stop gun violence. With it is that desires… Continue reading Finding Joy
Chip & Dale & Nic(k)
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a movie where Nick Cage (played by Nic Cage) finds himself embroiled in a criminal conspiracy. Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a movie where Chip and Dale (the stars of the cartoon Rescue Rangers) find themselves embroiled in a criminal conspiracy. Both of these movies are pretty… Continue reading Chip & Dale & Nic(k)
Readapting The Batman
So that new Batman movie, helpfully titled The Batman came out and it works very well. Which I found to be a pleasant surprise, all said. The Batman of Batman vs Superman and Justice League was a dour affair, taking the dark and serious Batman of The Dark Knight (and summarily lampooned by The LEGO… Continue reading Readapting The Batman
More Rings
Amazon’s long-gestating Middle-earth set project is looming in the autumn, and this week we got a look at some character posters. They aren’t much, just shots of torsos and hands that give us an idea of the show’s aesthetic. There's cool armor, berries, and it’s anyone’s guess as to which one is Hot Sauron (as… Continue reading More Rings
The Spine
The movie version of The Lord of The Rings is quite different from the book version of The Lord of The Rings, but they’re both very much The Lord of The Rings. It’s the same story, and the movie does an incredible job at adapting the book by not adapting the book. Let me explain.… Continue reading The Spine
Spiders, Man!
While watching Spider-Man: No Way Home I found myself oddly distracted by the spoilers. The internet has been absolutely a titter over the last year or so about the movie, with crackpot theories based on trailers and leaked set photos guessing who was going to be in the movie. I still really liked the internet,… Continue reading Spiders, Man!
Cinenarrative Dissonance
Why does Mario have extra lives? Oh I get it, it makes sense for a game, but is he a supernatural plumber that can come back from the dead? It’s good old-fashioned ludonarrative dissonance, the tension between gameplay and story that haunts gaming criticism. But for all the talk about its presence in video games,… Continue reading Cinenarrative Dissonance
Metal Gear Spectre
I wasn’t expecting No Time To Die to draw so much on Metal Gear Solid in its story, and yet, here we are. Granted, the Metal Gear series borrowed heavily from James Bond, what with the central idea of a single operative on a clandestine mission into a supervillain’s base where, armed with gadgets, he… Continue reading Metal Gear Spectre
Self-Hating Asians
I moved to South Carolina the summer I turned fifteen, after growing up in Singapore and spending four years on a ship. Unknowingly, I stepped into a paradigm where my half-Singaporean Chinese self was now firmly classified as Asian, a title that brought with it very specific expectations. I quickly learned that the best way… Continue reading Self-Hating Asians
Essays, Not Rants! 