the m0vie blog

New Escapist Column! On “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” in Conversation with the MCU…

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist yesterday evening. With the wrapping up of the first season of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it seemed like a good time to take a look back at the show’s first season – and, in particular, how it positions itself within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is thirteen years old this May. It spans 24 films, a handful of television series and almost a dozen separate film franchises. That is a lot of baggage. Indeed, it seems like the MCU has reached a point where the baggage of its earlier installments exerts almost as much gravity as the source material itself. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier feels like a prime example of this, with the series very much engaged in conversation with the films in the Captain America franchise.

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

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: canon, captain america, captain america: civil war, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, continuity, criticism, engagement, escapist magazine, history, in the frame, mcu, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The X-Cast – Season 6, Episode 22 (“Biogenesis”)

Posted on May 8, 2021 by Darren

Coinciding with The X-Files‘ move from Vancouver to Los Angeles, there has also been a shift at The X-Cast. Tony Black is no longer running the show, but it is instead now being run by Sarah Blair, Kurt North and Carl Sweeney. I was thrilled to join Carl to talk about the sixth season finale: Biogenesis.

Following Two Fathers and One Son in the middle of the sixth season, Biogenesis is a very odd season finale for The X-Files. It’s the only season finale that doesn’t have the luxury of hanging on the central mythology and which isn’t designed to serve as a potential finale for the series as a whole. As a result, it’s a very odd episode of television, and offers an interesting prism on the tropes and conventions of The X-Files.

You can listen to the episode here, or click the link below.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Podcasts!, The X-Files | Tagged: belief, carl sweeney, chris carter, kurt north, mythology, religion, the x-cast, the x-files, x-files | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Jupiter’s Legacy” and the Netflix Bloat…

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist yesterday evening. With the release of the first ~~season~~ volume of Jupiter’s Legacy on Netflix, it seemed like an opportunity to talk about the weirdness of the Netflix bloat.

The first season of Jupiter’s Legacy is eight episodes long, but covers about as much narrative real estate as the first two issues of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely’s comic book. The season doesn’t even get to what is effectively the big inciting incident for the bulk of the comic book, instead stretching certain plot points and certain threads past breaking points. It’s not that Netflix departs or deviates from the source material; it’s often quite faithful in quoting from the comic. It’s that the show can’t seem to even get started.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: decompressed storytelling, decompression, escapist, frank quitely, in the frame, mark millar, netflix bloat, streaming, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Order 66” as the Unlikely Lynchpin of the “Star Wars” Universe…

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist earlier in the week. Given that The Bad Batch launched this week on Disney+, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the way in which it solidifies “Order 66” as an unlikely lynchpin of the larger Star Wars universe.

There are any number of big events in the Star Wars canon, many of which have been depicted on screen – the destruction of Alderaan, the Battle of Yavin, the Battle of Hoth, the Battle of Endor. However, it’s striking that the event that has played most frequently across a wide variety of Star Wars media is the implementation of “Order 66” from the end of the prequels. It speaks to both the power of the event itself, its versatility and scale, but also to how the prequels have been rehabilitated and integrated thoroughly into the canon.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: canon, continuity, reference, star wars, the bad batch | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “A Marvelous Escape” – Falcon and the Winter Soldier – “Full Season Review”…

Posted on May 7, 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 back at the first season of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, including the news that Sam Wilson will be wielding the shield in Captain America 4 and trying to make sense of some of the season’s more chaotic plotting decisions.

Filed under: Podcasts!, Television | Tagged: a marvelous escape, captain america, captain america 4, jack packard, kc nwosu, marvel, Marvel Studios, sam wilson, the falcon and the winter soldier | Leave a comment »

233. Relatos salvajes (Wild Tales) (#178)

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Áine O’Connor, 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, Damián Szifron’s Relatos salvajes.

Six stories from modern day Argentina explore themes of violence and revenge, of anger and aggression, and of what happens when people stop behaving in the way that society expects them to and start indulging their wilder impulses.

At time of recording, it was ranked 178th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Continue reading →

Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: aine o'connor, Anger, animals, anthology, Argentina, cannes film festival, civilisation, clamping, collapse, damián szifron, institutions, Marriage, politics, protests, rage, relatos slavajes, Ricardo Darín, Road rage, Short Films, society, three billboards, violence, wild tales | Leave a comment »

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.