I’m thrilled to be launching movie reviews on The Escapist. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be joining a set of contributors in adding these reviews to the channel. For the moment, I’m honoured to contribute a three-minute film review of Prey, which is streaming on Hulu from tomorrow.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: amber midthunder, dan trachtenberg, escapist, film, Movie, predator, prey, review, the escapist | Leave a comment »
We’re thrilled to be launching a fortnightly video companion piece to In the Frame at The Escapist. The video will typically launch every second Monday, and be released on the magazine’s YouTube channel. And the video will be completely separate from the written content. This is kinda cool, because we’re helping relaunch the magazine’s film content – so if you can throw a subscription our way, it would mean a lot.
This week, we took a look at a broader cultural trend: the way in which streaming services and the algorithms that drive them are reshaping modern franchise media in a way that makes them more aesthetically conservative. When the algorithm drives studios to push towards recycling familiar ideas and iconography, it discourages any attempt to do something new or interesting with these long-lasting properties. As a result, many of the larger franchises have become hollowed versions of their past glories.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Conservative, Content, familiar, fandom, in the frame, star trek, star wars, streaming, the algorithm, video | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this time with special guests Niall Glynn and Graham Day, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To round out Shark Week, we are marking Shaq Week. So today, ending the week with Kenneth Johnson’s Steel.
Following a horrific accident during weapons research, John Irons returns home to South Central Los Angeles to discover that some of the weapons he helped design have been making their way into the hands of the local gangs. Unable to accept this, Irons crafts a superhero persona for himself, vowing to protect the local community as the vigilante Steel.
At time of recording, it was ranked 47th on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: African American, annabeth gish, basketball, comic books, graham day, Judd Nelson, niall glynn, podcast, shaq, shaquille o'neal, Steel, superhero, superheroes, The 250, The Bottom 100, Warner Bros, warners | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Emma Kiely, and this time with special guest Jason Coyle, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To line up with Shark Week, we are covering the Jaws franchise. So today, rounding out the week with Joseph Sergeant’s Jaws: The Revenge.
Following the death of her son Sean in a freak shark attack, Ellen Brody becomes convinced that her family has become a supernatural magnet for sharks. Her surviving son Michael convinces Ellen to travel to the Bahamas, where she meets a mysterious sea plane pilot named Hoagie. As a relationship begins to blossom between Ellen and Hoagie, Ellen discovers that perhaps there are some secrets that can’t be escaped.
At time of recording, it was ranked 27th on the lists of either the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: bad movies, continuity, emma kiely, hollywood, home media, jason coyle, jaws, jaws '87, jaws: the revenge, joseph sergeant, lorraine gray, Michael Caine, nostalgia, richard jani, sequels, shark week, sid sheinberg, steven spielberg, universal, universal pictures, voodoo sharks | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Emma Kiely, and this time with special guest Joey Keogh, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To line up with Shark Week, we are covering the Jaws franchise. So today, Joe Alves’ Jaws 3.
Working with eccentric billionaire Calvin Bouchard, Sea World is planning to open a new and expensive underwater attraction. However, these plans are complicated when a shark finds its way into the park. Eager for publicity, and sensing a rare opportunity, Bouchard hopes to capture the shark and hold it in captivity to draw audiences. However, remembering their ordeal on Amity Island, Michael and Sean Brody wonder is the terror is only beginning.
At time of recording, it was ranked 75th on the lists of either the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: 1980s, 1983, 3d, bottom 100, cocaine, Dennis Quaid, emma kiely, Florida, imdb, jaws, jaws 3, jaws 3d, joey keogh, louis gossett jr., manimal, podcast, seaworld, shark week, sharks, The 250, universal pictures | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Emma Kiely, and this time with special guest Jess Dunne, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To line up with Shark Week, we are covering the Jaws franchise. So today, Jeannot Szwarc’s Jaws 2.
It has been several years since a series of shark attack scarred Amity Island, but Chief Brody is still scarred by the experience. As the community prepares to usher in a prosperous new era of investment and development, Brody starts to see signs that a shark is once again stalking the waters off these peaceful shores. Can Brody convince the community that they are in mortal danger or will the monster finish off the seaside town?
At time of recording, it was not ranked on the lists of either the best or the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: Brody, emma keily, jaws, jaws 2, jeannot szwarc, jess dunne, roy scheider, sequels, shark week, sharksploitation, sid sheinberg, steven spielberg, The 250, universal | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Emma Kiely, and this time with special guest Jess Dunne, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To line up with Shark Week, we are covering the Jaws franchise. So today, we are re-releasing our episode on Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, with a new intro.
Chief Brody moved to the remote island community of Amity to get away from the horrors of urban life. However, his plans for a fresh start are derailed when horrifically mangled bodies begin washing up on the sea shore. Based on the evidence, Brody reaches a conclusion that nobody on the island wants to hear: the town is being terrorised by a Great White Shark.
At time of recording the new intro, it ranked 206th on the list of the best or the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: emma kiely, jaws, podcast, re-release, shark week, steven spielberg, The 250 | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
So this week, T. J. Gnanavel’s Jai Bhim.
When a tribal woman’s husband goes missing in police custody, she has no option but to turn to a civil rights lawyer named Chandru. Eager to help his client find her abducted husband, Chandru stumbles upon a web of police brutality and violence that extends far deeper than he initially expected. What Chandru uncovers will change Indian society forever.
At time of recording, it was ranked 249th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: caste, caste system, courtroom drama, dalits, india, irulars, jai bhim, mystery, podcast, social justice, suriya, tamil nadu, The 250 | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.
So this week, Robert Wise’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
When a mysterious entity appears at the edge of Federation space, Admiral James Tiberius Kirk finds himself recommissioned as commander of the Starship Enterprise. When his former Science Officer, Spock, is summoned from across the cosmos by the creature’s psychic cries, the crew find themselves on a desperate mission to save Earth from a creature that exists beyond human comprehension.
At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: counterculture, gene roddenberry, god, horniness, horny, kirk, manson family, parenting, podcast, psychedelia, sixties, spock, star trek, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The 250, v'ger | Leave a comment »
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of both Top Gun: Maverick and Thor: Love and Thunder recently, it seemed like an opportunity to unpack what might be described as “the rise of the anti-legacyquel.”
The term “legacyquel” emerged in the middle of the last decade to describe a new kind of franchise film, one that allowed an aging cast to gracefully hand over the series to a younger generation. For a few years, it seemed like this might offer a sustainable model for Hollywood’s future. However, recent years have seen a very firm rejection of this approach, with Maverick and Love and Thunder serving as two very recent and very high-profile examples of stories about an older generation seemingly welcoming a new generation of heroes, only to take back control at the climax of the story.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: all-new and all-different, Jane, legacy, legacyquels, maverick, Next Generation, sequels, thor, thor: love and thunder, tom cruise, top gun: maverick | Leave a comment »
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