the m0vie blog

New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “Paddington 2 is Objectively Better Than Citizen Kane”

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard for the fourteenth episode of the year, for a discussion that covered The Mitchells vs. The Machines, Paddington, Paddington 2, Citizen Kane and the entire point of criticism. So, you know, nothing too big or broad.

You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.

Filed under: Podcasts! | Tagged: animation, best film ever, Citizen Kane, criticism, jack packard, lord and miller, objectivity, paddington, paddington 2, phil king, the escapist movie podcast, the mitchells vs. the machines | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Invincible” as a Celebration of Superhero Storytelling…

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist yesterday evening. With the end of the first season of Invincible, it seemed like a nice opportunity to take a look at what makes the animated superhero show so interesting.

A lot of the discussion of Invincible has focused on the violence of the show, with many commentators arguing that Invincible is a deconstruction of classic superhero tropes. However, what’s striking about Invincible is what this violence conceals. At its core, Invincible is a surprisingly earnest and conventional superhero story, executed with a minimum of ironic detachment and self-aware distance. It is not a deconstruction of the tropes of superhero storytelling, but an earnest celebration of them.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: escapist, escapist magazine, in the frame, invincible, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! On “Master and Commander: Far Side of the World” as a Study of Man, Nature and Human Nature…

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Darren

So, as I have mentioned before, I am doing some film critic work at The Escapist. Part of that includes long-form video criticism, such as this piece which is now available to watch at the Escapist YouTube Channel, looking at Peter Weir’s underrated maritime masterpiece, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: escapist, escapist movies, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Peter Weir, russell crowe, the escapist, the far side of the world, video essay | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “Captain America 4″…

Posted on April 30, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the announcement that Anthony Mackie would be reprising his role as Sam Wilson in Captain America 4, it seemed like a good opportunity to take stock of what is happening with Marvel’s streaming series.

Disney have long insisted that streaming represents the future of the company, investing heavily in bringing their existing brands to the medium. However, even with the boost that the pandemic has brought to streaming, there is a question to be asked about where the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe lies. Are shows like WandaVision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier paving the future of the MCU? Or are they just commercials for big-ticket feature films?

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: anthony mackie, captain america, captain america 4, continuity, disney, Marvel Cinematic Universe, mcu, sam wilson, steve rogers, streaming, the falcon and the winter soldier | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “A Marvelous Escape” – Falcon and the Winter Soldier – “One World, One People” Discussion…

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Darren

With a slew of Marvel Studios productions coming to Disney+ over the next six months, The Escapist has launched a weekly show discussing these series. I’ll be joining the wonderful Jack Packard and the fantastic KC Nwosu to break down WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki as they come out.

This week, we take a look at the final episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which has a lot to wrap up. Can the show stick the landing?

Filed under: Podcasts!, Television | Tagged: a marvelous escape, audience, jack packard, kc nwosu, marvel, sam wilson, streaming, Television, the falcon and the winter soldier | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On Young Adult Movies Operating Under Star Power…

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist earlier in the week. With the release of Shadow and Bone on Netflix last week, it seemed a good opportunity to take a look at the state of the young adult in modern Hollywood. in particular, the ways in which the genre is dependent on an ineffable star quality.

The young adult boom really kicked off with the Harry Potter series. However, not all the adaptations that followed succeeded. Looking back over the various attempts to tap into that market, it becomes clear that the series that triumphed tended to share one key factor: lead performers who had genuine movie star charisma and energy.

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

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: harry potter, movie stars, netflix, shadow and bone, star power, sun summoner, the hunger games, twilight, Young Adult | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! On “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” as the First Fan Service Blockbuster…

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Darren

So, as I have mentioned before, I am launching a new video series as a companion piece to In the Frame at The Escapist. The video will typically launch with every second Monday article, and be released on the magazine’s YouTube channel the following week. This is kinda cool, because we’re helping relaunch the magazine’s film channel – so if you can throw a subscription our way, it would mean a lot.

This week, following the release of Mortal Kombat, we thought we’d give audiences what they really wanted. Yes, that’s right: a deep dive on Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: blockbuster, continuity, fan service, fans, history, in the frame, intellectual property, Lore, mortal kombat, mortal kombat: annihilation | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “Is Mortal Kombat a Knock-Out?”

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard and Jesse Galena for the thirteenth episode of the year, for a jam-packed discussion that covered Mank, the Oscars and Mortal Kombat.

You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.

Filed under: Movies, Podcasts! | Tagged: jack packard, jesse galena, mank, mortal kombat, Oscars, podcast, the escapist, the escapist movie podcast | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” as the First Fan Service Blockbuster…

Posted on April 26, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Mortal Kombat over the weekend, it seemed like as good a time as any to take a look back at the earlier nineties iteration of the cinematic franchise.

In particular, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is a much more interesting movie than is often acknowledged. It is a complete disaster in just about every sense, but is a revealing one. Watched from remove of two decades, Annihilation often feels like a template for the sort of fan service blockbuster that we now take for granted, with its broad themes of “family” and its plot that serves primarily as an object on which continuity references and nostalgic shoutouts might be ornately arranged.

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

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: annihilation, blockbusters, fan service, film, in the frame, mortal kombat, mortal kombat: annihilation, Movie, the escapist, x-men 3 | Leave a comment »

232. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (-#78)

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Richard Drumm 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, John R. Leonetti’s Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage have just won the Mortal Kombat tournament, saving Earthrealm from Outworld. However, the villainous Shao Kahn does not accept victory so easily. Breaking the rules of the tournament, Kahn and his army of monsters launch a full-scale invasion of Earth. Can our heroes stop “the merger” in time?

At time of recording, it was ranked 78th on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.