the m0vie blog

New Escapist Review! “The Book of Boba Fett – From the Desert Comes a Stranger”…

Posted on February 2, 2022 by Darren

I published a new review at The Escapist today. I’m reviewing new episodes of The Book of Boba Fett weekly, so this week I’m covering From the Desert Comes a Stranger.

Following on from Return of the Mandalorian, From the Desert Comes a Stranger is another episode of The Book of Boba Fett that is surprisingly uninterested in Boba Fett himself. It’s an hour of television that splits its time across two significant plot threads, and the differences between the two are instructive. One of those threads is at least basically functional, if largely unremarkable. The other thread exerts a much stronger gravity, and perhaps demonstrates the worst tendencies of modern Star Wars.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: Boba Fett, cad bane, cobb vanth, din djarin, grogu, Luke Skywalker, star wars, the book of boba fett, the clone wars, the mandalorian, Timothy Olyphant | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the “The Book of Boba Fett”, “Now Way Home” and Nostalgia For Things That We Hate…

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the most recent episode of The Book of Boba Fett leaning heard into nostalgia for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and with Spider-Man: No Way Home bringing back Andrew Garfield from the Amazing Spider-Man movies, I tackled a question that has been bothering me for a while: why are fans nostalgic for things they hate?

Of course, there are fans out there who love The Phantom Menace and The Amazing Spider-Man movies, and more power to them. However, there is something interesting in how these nostalgic properties couch their nostalgia for these objects, layering it with distance and approaching it often indirectly – evoking not so much the object itself, but the faint fandom memory of the object. In many cases, it feels like such nostalgia is driven more by a sense of ownership and obligation than by any meaningful affection or appreciation.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: bad memories, book of boba fett, fandom, in the frame, nostalgia, ownership, spider-man: no way home, the amazing spider-man, the book of boba fett, the escapist, the phantom menace | 1 Comment »

New Podcast! The Spookies Podcast – “The Dark Knight And The Joker “

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Darren

I was thrilled to be invited to join the wonderful Michael and Stephanie Little for an episode of their new podcast, The Spookies Podcast.

It was a fun conversation, in which I got to chat a little bit about The Dark Knight, one of my favourite blockbusters ever. The nominal topic of the conversation was the Joker himself, but it was a broad and wide-ranging discussion that ended up touching on everything from modern fandom to Christopher Nolan to the state of modern auteurism. I hope you enjoy.

You can listen directly to the episode below or by clicking here.

Filed under: On Second Thought, Podcasts! | Tagged: auteurism, batman, blockbusters, Christopher Nolan, Comics, fans, heath ledger, michael black, stephanie black, The Dark Knight, the spookies | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! Your Feature Presentation – “Peacemaker is Wonderfully Weird and Fun”

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a new pop culture podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard for the fourth episode. Jack and I get to talk about Peacemaker, which I am really enjoying.

Filed under: Podcasts!, Television | Tagged: jack packard, James Gunn, john cena, Peacemaker, your feature presentation | Leave a comment »

271. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (-#86)

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Graham Day and Niall Glynn, 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, Sidney J. Furie’s Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.

It is a turbulant time in the life of Clark Kent. He finds himself considering selling the family farm. The Daily Planet has been brought out by an aggressive media conglomerate. A young boy has begun to question his faith in Superman, asking whether the Man of Steel can truly protect the world from the threat of nuclear annihilation. Tired of standing by as a passive observer, Superman decides to finally take action. However, an old enemy is lurking in the shadows, waiting to spring a trap of his own.

At time of recording, it was ranked 86th on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Continue reading →

Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: cannon films, christopher reeve, comic books, Comics, dark and gritty, eighties, fandom, gene hackman, goofiness, graham day, jon cryer, niall glynn, nuclear man, nuclear war, sidney j. furie, silliness, silver age, superman, The 250, The Bottom 100 | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the “Planet of the Apes” Prequels as the Last Great Movie Trilogy…

Posted on January 28, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the looming release of The Batman, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at Matt Reeves’ other recent films. In particular, Reeves directed the last two films in the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy.

The recent Planet of the Apes prequels are the rarest of things: beautifully made and powerfully resonant blockbusters. The films are constructed with genuine artistry and craft, but – more than that – they speak to the particular moment in which they were released. These are films that against all odds manage to capture something of the soul of America on celluloid, beautifully encapsulating a deeply troubled era, and skilfully using their nostalgia in a way that deepens their themes and enhances their resonance.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: america, blockbusters, dawn of the planet of the apes, escapist, matt reeves, planet of the apes, rise of the planet of the apes, the batman, the escapist, war for the planet of the apes | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Review! “The Book of Boba Fett – Return of the Mandalorian”…

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Darren

I published a new review at The Escapist today. I’m reviewing new episodes of The Book of Boba Fett weekly, so this week I’m covering Return of the Mandalorian.

Return of the Mandalorian is an odd episode, in large part because it feels like an episode of a different show. Not in an abstract or metaphorical way, but in a very direct and literal way. Return of the Mandalorian feels like a lost episode of The Mandalorian, following that show’s title character in the gap between the second and third seasons. The episode isn’t bad. In fact, it’s arguably the strongest episode of The Book of Boba Fett to date. However, when the strongest episode of a first season feels like an episode of another show, that perhaps suggests more fundamental underlying problems.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: book of boba fett, return of the mandalorian, star wars, the book of boba fett, the mandalorian | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Peacemaker” and “MacGruber” as Reckonings with Reagan Era Action Heroes…

Posted on January 24, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the recent release of MacGruber and Peacemaker, it seemed like an interesting opportunity to reflect on two comedy streaming shows that are very firmly anchored in a very particular nostalgia for a certain kind of eighties Reagan era action hero.

MacGruber and Peacemaker are essentially extended riffs on a very archetypal form of American heroism, a very militaristic and jingoistic expression of heroism. While both shows are reasonably affectionate and surprisingly sympathetic to its subjects, they are also quite aggressive in their desconstruction of this archetype. Both MacGruber and Peacemaker are shows about characters who are deeply unpleasant and incredibly juvenile, in what feels like an interesting interrogation of the action heroes of the era. It’s an interesting angle on this nostalgia, feeling at times like a tempered reflection.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: action, ameriana, america, comedy, eighties, macgruber, masculinity, Peacemaker, reagan, streaming, Television, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the Dearth of the Monoculture…

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist earlier this week. It’s been an interesting few weeks and months in terms of pop culture. There’s been a lot of debate about critics and the role of critics, there’s been a lot of news about pop culture that the internet doesn’t seem too excited about, and there’s been a lot of coverage about mundane aspects of The Batman.

All of these things speak to an interesting and ongoing anxiety about the “monoculture”, the idea of pieces of pop culture that are seismic enough to become part of the shared vernacular. The pandemic has had a number of major impacts on the production and the consumption of popular culture, and part of that has been an increasing sense of disconnect from a shared sense of the monoculture. However, is the monoculture truly dead? Or is it simply resting?

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: criticism, films, internet, monoculture, pop culture, the escapist | Leave a comment »

270. Ratsasan (Raatchasan) (#250)

Posted on January 22, 2022 by Darren

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, Ramkumar’s Ratsasan.

Arun Kumar aspires to be a director. He has the perfect serial killer script, but nobody will make it. Resigned to this reality, Arun accepts a job in the police force, working with his brother-in-law. However, it isn’t too long before Arun discovers that his unique insight into serial killers might help to catch a monster currently targetting teenager girls. It will take all of Arun’s wits and courage to earn his happy ending.

At time of recording, it was ranked 250th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.