Movies

Mortal Engines Year: 2001 Author: Philip Reeve Length: 541 minutes / 9.02 hours In yet another case of watching a movie first before reading the books, I finally got around to reading Mortal Engines after absolutely loving the 2018 movie. While I understand middle-grade or Young Adult readers are the intended audiences, it left me wanting […]

Joker Year: 2019 Rating: R Length: 122 minutes / 2.03 hours With the saturation of superhero movies between Marvel and DC at all-time highs, it was only a matter of time before a movie like Joker (2019) would come along. If anything, the current socio-political environment in the real world is ripe for this kind of story. […]

Ad Astra Year: 2019 Rating: PG-13 Length: 123 minutes / 2.05 hours I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with Ad Astra (2019). The trailers I had seen made it seem like it was an action-filled space adventure akin to Interstellar (2014) or Gravity (2013). While it did handle all the outer space issues in a somewhat scientifically accurate way, Ad Astra was […]

Cave of Forgotten Dreams Year: 2010 Rating: G Length: 90 minutes / 1.50 hours Every once in a while, ideal conditions align to preserve a piece of ancient human history. Time and the march of civilization have destroyed plenty of important artifacts of our past, but occasionally something happens that protects this history for future […]

Secondhand Lions Year: 2003 Rating: PG Length: 109 minutes / 1.82 hours Making a family-friendly film is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks in cinema. Not only does it have to appeal to children, but it also has to avoid plenty of material that might not be appropriate for younger audiences. If families can […]

Mark Twain is quoted as writing, “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn, and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations... Read more.

Separating a character from an iconic role can be difficult. In some ways, audiences will always associate the actor with the part that made them a household name. This is especially true of long-running franchises who have singular main characters. I’m sure plenty of people knew who Daniel Craig was before he portrayed James Bond... Read more.

When you think of full-length animated features, what studios come to mind? Obviously, there are heavy hitters like Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks. These companies regularly put out high-quality movies and have collectively dominated the animation realm for decades. To stand out, some lesser-known animation studios have had to find a niche and stick to it.... Read more.

“It’s a small world, after all.” While we often associate this song lyric with our ability to meet people from our different spheres of influence who happen to be in the same place at the same time, what if this repetitive stanza from an amusement park ride is taken at literal, face value? A world... Read more.

While it seems most actors strive to eventually escape from the small screen of television for the big screen of movies, some of these actors find the realm of Hollywood is a lot different from their experiences in television. Of course, Hollywood also scopes out actors who have proven themselves successful in television so the... Read more.

Every evening, when humans look up at the sky and see the stars twinkling above, many of them wonder what lies beyond our galaxy. Sure, we’ve explored outer space a little bit, but there’s so much more we haven’t even gotten close to discovering outside our solar system. This speculation of what lies beyond the... Read more.

Have you ever noticed how some actors just seem to burst onto the scene? Like, one day they’re on a moderately-popular television show, then the next day they’re starring in many successful movies. Sometimes, a bit of luck is involved when an actor chooses to make a concerted effort in developing their film career. If... Read more.

Two heads are better than one. Of course, when it comes to humor, there have been numerous duos who have been known for their comedy. Abbot and Costello is one example. Laurel and Hardy are another. Being able to partner up with another comedian can produce legendary results, especially if one of them is the... Read more.

“Work smarter, not harder,” is the motto of many a business that wants to succeed by creating efficiencies in their processes. The trick that comes with this idiom is that taking the brute-force approach can sometimes appear to be the easier path to success. If there are multiple steps needed to set up a more... Read more.

The last decade has seen the rise of the superhero in cinema, helping to perpetuate the ideals of the “hero” archetype. These characters know the right thing to do, and they perform these honorable actions even if it comes at a great personal sacrifice. While this type of protagonist has been around for centuries, modern... Read more.