The Artist's Disappointing Missed Opportunity (Film Review)

The Artist is a love letter to silent films in addition to the Golden Age of Hollywood.  It is filmed entirely in black and white, primarily silent—using classic techniques such as title cards to tell its story—and pays homage to many films of the classic era (from early silent films all the way to the 1940s with films like Citizen Kane).  I love watching silent films—even the poorest quality ones have something to offer in terms of telling the birth and evolution of cinema.  But when I come across a great one, a silent film with passion made by people showing zeal and ambition to this newborn craft, it is an absolute treat.  Heck, my very own blog is named after one of the greatest, most innovative silent films ever created (as well as one of my favorite films): Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr.

Spring Part 2: A Wonderful, One-of-a-Kind Amalgamation of Romance, Horror, Comedy, and Self-Discovery (Film Analysis)

LINK TO PART 1!!!

Spring Part 1: A Wonderful, One-of-a-Kind Amalgamation of Romance, Horror, Comedy, and Self-Discovery (Film Analysis)

An immortal being, thousands of years old, containing the DNA of all its past evolutionary organisms.  A monstrosity of stingers, beaks, tentacles, and claws unexplainable by science.  The creature lurks among us in secret, draining the blood of its victims—whether beast or human—like a vampire.  Spring is about this grotesque abomination…

...finding true love.

Note: This is my second review of Spring.  Here's my original review from 2016, written when I first saw the film.

Frozen II (Quick Review)

Frozen II is one of those strange examples where a lot of stuff occurs yet it feels like very little happens.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Film Review)

To quote Emperor Palpatine: Augghhhh!!!

Ford vs Ferrari (Film Review)

Ford vs Ferrari is a good film that's structure has been seen many times before.  It adheres closely to the Hollywood biographical drama formula just with a new setting of the titled auto manufacturing companies competing to win a car race.

How to Train Your Dragon Part 2: How Visual and Sound Turn a Good Story into Something Amazing (Film Analysis)

LINK TO PART 1!!!

Using the knowledge gained from his time with Toothless, Hiccup succeeds in passively defeating and/or befriending the training dragons in fighting class.  Despite such successes gaining his peers’s praise (aside from Astrid, who grows jealous over Hiccup becoming the new star student), Hiccup is more preoccupied with getting Toothless back in the air again—for a more accurate lesson Hiccup was taught is that a downed dragon is a dead dragon.  Being the inventor that he is, Hiccups begins designing a tail flap to replace Toothless's missing scale.  Hiccup discovers, however, that the artificial wing will not remain open when Toothless flies alone.  As such, Hiccup builds a saddle for him to ride and help assist Toothless in flying.  The film’s excellent pacing is shown off here with a split montage of Hiccup building the flying device while training at classes.  I love how naturally the scenes move from Hiccup just trying to build an artificial scale for Toothless to saddling up to fly with him.

How to Train Your Dragon Part 1: How Visual and Sound Turn a Good Story into Something Amazing (Film Analysis)

Take a story about a boy’s bond with his dog.  Turn the dog into a wild animal the boy needs to tame.  Turn the wild animal into a mystical species the boy’s family is at war with.  Make the family a tribe of Vikings, the species dragons, and the boy the mediator for the two groups to finally end their differences, and you got the core construct to How to Train Your Dragon.  

Joker (Film Review)

Despite being set in a superhero universe focused on one of the most iconic supervillains of all time, Joker departs extensively from its genre’s usual constructs.  It overtakes The Dark Knight Trilogy as the most grounded film set in the Batman universe.  There’s no magic, special abilities, herculean feats of strength, advanced technology, over-the-top schemes, or anything unrealistic that has become engrained within the superhero genre.  Joker has little need for suspension of disbelief and is so set in reality that I, at times, forgot I was even watching a Batman film—earnestly thinking Gotham City was New York City—only to be reminded when the Wayne family or Arkham were brought up.

Zombieland: Double Tap (Film Review)

This is a treat.

The Dead Don't Die or: Jim Jarmusch Tackles the Zombie Genre (Film Analysis)

See, here's the problem.

Zombieland is Great (Film Analysis)

LINK TO PART 3: Zombieland is Wonderfully Surprising

Zombieland is Wonderfully Surprising (Film Analysis)

LINK TO PART 2: Zombieland is Hilarious

Zombieland is Hilarious (Film Analysis)

LINK TO PART 1: Zombieland is Influential

Zombieland is Influential (Film Analysis)

What if I told you that Zombieland is one of the key pieces that turned me into a film buff?

Only Lovers Left Alive Revisited or: A Mesmerizing Vampire Story Unlike Any Other (Film Analysis)

Being a vampire suCertainly isn't all fun and games.

Note: This is my second review of Only Lovers Left Alive.  Here's my original review from 2014, written back when the film first released.

G.B.F. or: One of the Most Incredibly Entertaining, Notably Progressive Films You've Never Seen (Film Analysis)

G.B.F. is one of the most incredibly entertaining, notably progressive films you've most likely never seen.

Ex Machina Revisited or: The Modern Frankenstein (Film Analysis)

The complete title for Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein is Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.  Both Prometheus and Frankenstein are cautionary tales of the unintentional consequences of the strive for scientific knowledge, as well as the overreaching of one’s position in life.  If Frankenstein is the modern Prometheus, then Ex Machina is the modern Frankenstein.

Jeff Who Lives at Home or: A Story Modest in Scope, yet Beautifully Successful in its Simplicity (Film Analysis)

Jeff Who Lives at Home is a short, small-budget indie film.  It has a modest, unassuming plot that can easily be overlooked within the swarm of high-stakes, epic blockbusters.  And yet, it is a film that is bursting with heart and surpasses many a multi-million dollar blockbuster.  Jeff (Jason Segel) is a thirty-year-old, unemployed stoner who, as the title suggests, still lives in his parent's house.  Jeff is a peculiar man; the film’s opening scene shows him voice recording his thoughts on the film Signs and its relation to fate and destiny:

The End of the Tour Revisited or: How Terrific Performances can Turn an Average Script into a Great Film (Film Analysis)

The End of the Tour has a deceptively simple plot.  A magazine journalist goes to interview a writer, has various discussions with him, and then leaves with his story.  The plot itself is nothing great, I'd even call it rather average overall.  It is neither revolutionary nor innovative in its approach and does nothing to shake up its medium’s narrative structure, unlike the writer’s own creation.  Yet The End of the Tour is a great film, and its greatness lies with its two lead actors.  Here is an extremely lowkey film featuring two incredibly down-to-earth, relatable performances with fantastic chemistry.