I had the pleasure of attending an advance screening of The LEGO Movie on Thursday at my university. Now, you have to realize, I’ve been into Legos as long as I can remember, have a couple models on my desk, and have been making Lego movies in one form or another since I was ten.… Continue reading The (Lego) Hero’s Journey, Part One
Tag: Movies
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
In Defense of Escapist Fiction
A term that I see thrown around a lot regarding my preferred fictions is “escapist fiction.” You might have seen it before; films like The Avengers and Pacific Rim are just escapist fantasies, especially when compared to ‘real cinema.’ Or video games are just ways to live out a fantasy and science fiction a way… Continue reading In Defense of Escapist Fiction
Little Things
The biggest difference between fiction and reality is that the former is not real. Duh. Ergo, one of the greatest challenges of fiction is making it seem real. Doesn’t matter if it’s Star Wars, Pacific Rim, or Chuck; it’s gotta feel realistic. Lived in, real. The crew behind Star Wars, Pacific Rim, and the film… Continue reading Little Things
Good Female Protagonists Revisited
This blog's inception came about a year-and-a-half ago due to an essay (not a rant) about Katniss of The Hunger Games and other strong female characters. In light of the fact that we're once again a week away from the release of a movie about Katniss Everdeen, I figure, hey, let's look at this subject… Continue reading Good Female Protagonists Revisited
Two More Hours
The book Ender's Game is near to my heart. I listed it as my favorite book on my college apps years ago (in lieu of The Lord of the Rings — too cliché). I've read it at three different stages of my life: in high school, in the army (during basic training and later as… Continue reading Two More Hours
Genre Blending
Remember when superhero movies were just becoming a thing? They usually fell into the same pattern: someone gets powers and saves the world. Fairly straight forward, right? Sure, there were different approaches to the idea: X-Men drew on themes of discrimination and Spider-Man was about a hero trying to balance life and superheroing. The Dark… Continue reading Genre Blending
Awesome Non-Combatants
During my idle perusal of the vast wastes of internet I came across a review of this past week’s episode of Agents of SHIELD. What caught my interest was one of the reviewer’s criticisms: there were still too many techie-type characters who couldn’t fight. And that that was lame and frustrating. Now, besides wrong, I… Continue reading Awesome Non-Combatants
Essays, Not Rants! 