My New Year's Resolution (Ideas & Thoughts)

It's almost the New Year and I haven't posted anything.  Where the heck have I been!?

I've been planning (among many other aspects of life keeping me busy), planning one of my New Year's resolutions.

For the Film Reviewer Jr. my resolution is to put all my efforts into thoroughly reviewing the best and brightest films the 2010s decade has brought. 

In almost one year, a new decade will be upon us.  The 2010s has been extremely important to me, one of the reasons being the birth of my love and appreciation for film, as well as the birth of Film Reviewer Jr.  I feel compelled to give back to the decade by examining all its great films I missed out on reviewing.  Given my post-release track record, it's an overly ambitious goal, but one I've given time to plan out and hopefully complete by the end of 2019.

As such, 2019 will be primarily focused on reviewing what I consider the great films of the decade.  This means my focus will be away from 2019's cinema save for a few noteworthy exceptions such as the MCU films, Detective Pikachu, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, etc.  Aside from those outliers and any exceptional 2019 releases, I'll mostly be focused on the past years this decade's cinema had to offer.

Anyway, that's my New Year's resolution for the blog, now let's see if I can fulfill it or if it'll end up like most people's resolutions.

Happy New Year!

The Double Standard of Blockers (Ideas & Thoughts)

I enjoy the film Blockers—succeeding with its three hilariously entertaining adult leads—but it has a notable issue with double standards.  The issue doesn’t just stem within the film, however, but also with misdirected praise towards the film being “feminist”.  I’ve previously written a post on what defines a feminist film, and it stands to reason that Blockers is not one.  A feminist film is one that has a fair balance between male and female portrayals regarding quantity (the ratio of both genders casted), character (the way both genders are written and represented), role (the presentation of both genders in primary and secondary parts) and importance to plot (how much both genders matter to the storyline).  Blockers succeeds in two out of the four aspects, quantity and importance to plot.  Its gender ratio is fairly balanced between male and female characters who play significant roles within the story.

2017 in Review: Interracial Relationships, Child Actors, Down-to-Earth Performances and Superior Sequels (Ideas & Thoughts)

What do interracial relationships, child actors, down-to-Earth performances, and superior sequels have in common?  They all appeared prominently throughout 2017.

FRJ's Top 5 Superhero Films of 2017 (Film List)

It’s staggering how far superhero films have come.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Its Poorly Written Black Characters (Quick Review/Ideas & Thoughts)

I’ve seen two of Martin McDonagh’s films: Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.  The former is an unusual yet highly effective balance between satirical comedy and somber drama—the latter tips the balance, focusing more on drama and less on comedy.  As such, Three Billboards is less effective than Seven Psychopaths, though not enough to make it a failure.  The film is rich with strong performances, and while its plot drags at times, its characters and occasional comedy gold are enough to keep the story engaging.

IT’S MICHAEL SHANNON WEEK!!!

That’s right folks, for one whole week I’m paying homage to one of the decade’s most talented actors, Michael Shannon!

UPDATE: Micro Reviews & Remainder of the Year Schedule (Notification)

My schedule’s become very restrictive as of late.

The simple reason I have confidence in the Ghostbusters remake being good (Ideas & Thoughts)

Track record.

It's Time (Ideas and Thoughts)

It's time for me to get back to blogging.

Batman v Superman v Rio 2 (APRIL FOOLS!!!)

At long last! The review I was supposed to release weeks ago has finally arrived!  You’ve all been waiting for it, so here it is!  Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, Batman v Superman!!!  The most totally amazing film to release since, dare I say it, Rio 2!

The Best in Women's Cinema 2015 Edition: Gender in Film Part 2

It’s no secret I was disappointed by 2014’s alarming lack of strong female roles (discussed in my We Are The Best! review and 2015 Mid-Year List), which, admittedly, had been heightened by a then recent binge on 70s era films: one of the weakest decades for women’s cinema.  The 70s was a very depressing chapter for women’s cinema, predominately because the 60s was quite the opposite: an explosively progressive decade filled with new and fleshed-out female roles.  The 70s took such progressive thinking and, with the exception of the occasional outlier, pushed it back around 40 years.  It’s taken another 40 years to catch back up to where the 60s were heading, and yet, 2014 gave a shiver of worry that such backtracking was once again happening—that was, until 2015 came into play.  Not only has 2015 made up for 2014’s disappointment by surpassing expectations, it's also gave, quite possibly, the most abundant, diverse and well-rounded year for women in all of cinematic history.

Feminist Films vs. Female Focused Films: Gender in Film Part 1

Is Pitch Perfect 2 a feminist film?

According to multiple reviews on the film—such as this one, and this one, and this one—the answer is undoubtedly yes.

I say no, but not for the reasons you may think.

SET PUBLISHING DATES!!!+Changes to the Quick Review/Film Review Format (Format Changes)

A chief goal since Film Reviewer Jr.’s beginning has been to release at least one film post per week—and aside from the rare occasion (November 2013 being a good example, where student teaching plus college studies ate up my free time), I’ve kept good to such promise.  Yet while one can (practically) expect a post each week, the release day has varied between the seven available.  I’ve never given release days for readers to follow, frankly because I didn’t want to follow said dates; a whole week to work, finalize, and release a post is less stressful than a set date per week, especially with reality throwing those predictably unpredictable curveballs.  Such vagueness can be potentially frustrating for you the reader, being unaware which day(s) I’ll be publishing (will I publish Monday, or wait till the week’s end?)—as such I’ve created a solution too hopefully satisfy both concerns.

Quick Update (Ideas & Thoughts)

Hey there readers, I've been really busy this week and as such won't be releasing reviews till Sunday.  However to make up for it, I’ll be releasing three reviews over the next week!  As an extra bonus, here’s the release schedule, plus which films I’ll be reviewing:

Tomorrowland (Sunday, May 31^st)

Clouds of Sils Maria (Tuesday, April 2^nd)

Pitch Perfect 2 (edit: sorry, but it'll end up being Sunday rather than Thursday)

See you then!

Calvary + The Karate Kid Effect (Film Review/Ideas & Thoughts)

Film critic Gene Siskel once said that when it comes to film, your opinion ultimately boils down to whether you liked the movie or didn't.  Roger Ebert and his thumbs up/thumbs down system helped to express their overall opinion on a film, with a thumbs up=liked & recommended while a thumbs down=disliked & suggested to avoid.  While the thumbs up/thumbs down system works, its simplicity fails with giving individual pros and cons on a film that perhaps was good yet flawed, or one that was bad yet possessed some virtues (which is why it was important to read/listen to their reviews as well).  The point of my ramblings stem from this very review of Calvary, a film that possesses beautiful cinematography, lovely settings, solid performances from its actors and some wit to go alongside its premise.  Yet when it comes to my overall experience, I must confide that the film gets a solid thumbs down.  It may not start off this way, but by the end Calvary becomes a dark, depressing and mean-spirited film; a downward spiral of unpleasant bleakness that takes away from the positives I've stated above.  It’s sad, depressing and made me rather bitter by its conclusion, leaving a sour aftertaste that stayed long after seeing the film.

About This Blog (Intro)

Hi, my name is Stash and I love movies!  They are a major hobby/obsession in my life and I try my hardest to go out and watch as many as I can find.  My range for films has no limits; I'll watch new releases, old releases, classics, cult classics, color films, black & white films, silent films, drama, comedy, horror, fantasy, adventure, action, sci-fi, western, animation, foreign, avant-garde, long films, short films, beloved films, hated films, and anything in between.  Seeing tons of films means tons of opinions, but sadly there are few people I know who share this passion and as such I'm usually stuck with these opinions in my head.  This is why I've decided to start this blog, so that I will be able to express my thoughts and ideas on film.

The idea I've come up with (for now at least) is to write at least one review per week on either a new release that is in theaters at the moment or a film out on DVD from that same year.  Now this doesn't mean I'll be writing a review right on opening week, but I will write it as soon as possible.  I also should make clear I won't be able to see every film that comes out (due to time restraints, money, restricted releases, etc.) but I will try to write a review on any I missed when they come out on DVD (I might write more than one if I get the time).  I will also on occasion create other film related posts, such as: older movie analysis/reviews, looking at film history, top ten lists, talk on film actors/actresses, etc.  The major ideas for writing this blog are:

1. To introduce/expand the readers knowledge on the many different films, eras, actors/actress, directors, and genres all around (as well as piquing their interest in something they may have not been initially interested in seeing).

2. To persuade or reveal a different mindset on a certain film or film related topic (for example; convincing the reader to watch or re-watch a film he/she thought was bad).

3.  To write something that is enjoyable and interesting for both the readers and me.

Now starting next Monday I will be posting a series of different posts relating to new releases, older films, and film related ideas so that anyone interested in reading my posts can figure out if they will want to continue reading more or not.

Thank you!