I’m thrilled to be launching 3-Minute Reviews on Escapist Movies. 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 the new Mortal Kombat movie that is now available in cinemas and on HBO Max.
Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: 3 minute review, 3mr, escapist, mortal kombat, the escapist, video game movies, video games | Leave a comment »
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. As The Falcon and the Winter Soldier winds down its season, it seemed like a good opportunity to consider the show’s approach to the question: “What does Captain America stand for?”
It has been a turbulent few years for American identity, and it makes sense that a television about a character carrying the mantle of “Captain America” should have to figure out what that title means. The biggest issue with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is that it defines the concept of “Captain America” in negative terms. The series is more preoccupied with what Captain America isn’t than what he actually and actively is.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: captain america, captain america and the winter soldier, comic books, escapist, falcon and the winter soldier, in the frame, marvel, Movie, the escapist | Leave a comment »
I’m thrilled to be launching 3-Minute Reviews on Escapist Movies. 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 television review of the new Netflix streaming series Shadow and Bone.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: 3mr, netflix, shadow and bone, the escapist, three minute review | Leave a comment »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Niall Glynn and Richard Drumm, 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, Stewart Raffill’s Mac and Me.
Following a move to California, young Eric is feeling a little alienated and disconnected. However, the young boy’s life is quickly turned upside down following a chance encounter with a creature from another world that has a strange hunger for Coca-Cola and Skittles.
At time of recording, it was ranked 83rd on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: alan silvestri, alien, aliens, brand, e.t., eighties, fifties, ice pirates, mac and me, McDonalds, niall glynn, nostalgia, podcast, product placement, richard drumm, stewart raffill, The 250, throwback, vhs | Leave a comment »
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 penultimate episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which is very much a breather episode before the big series finale. There’s a lot to unpack here, and it’s a fun and broad discussion.
Filed under: Podcasts!, Television | Tagged: a marvelous escape, breather episode, jack packard, kc nwosu, the falcon and the winter soldier | Leave a comment »
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. As The Falcon and the Winter Soldier winds down its season, it seemed like a good opportunity to consider the show’s approach to the character of Baron Helmut Zemo. The villain was introduced in Captain America: Civil War, but the streaming series offered something of a soft reboot of the character.
On paper, Helmut Zemo is the most compelling villain imaginable for a superhero story. He is a man who has suffered at the hands of these super-powered individuals who act without respect or consideration for due process or collateral damage. Zemo is comparable to a character like Billy Butcher from The Boys, a man with a reasonable and grounded critique of a culture built around the unquestioning fetishisation of power.
However, Civil War could never explore Zemo’s perspective, because that would mean asking uncomfortable questions about the power fantasies of superheroism. More to the point, Zemo’s motivations were very much at odds with the purpose of a movie where a large part of the appeal was watching these supermen cause untold property damage. The MCU could not support Zemo as an antagonist, so Civil War marginalises and minimises him. In contrast, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier cannily reinvents the character.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: Television | Tagged: Baron Zemo, captain america: civil war, Civil War, comic relief, deconstruction, the falcon and the winter soldier, wealth | 2 Comments »
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Phil Bagnall and Stacy Grouden, The 250 is a fortnightly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.
This time, Florian Zeller’s The Father.
Anthony finds himself entering old age, and struggling with dementia. His world seems to shift around him. His home becomes increasingly foreign. The people that he loves are replaced with strangers. Can he find a way out of the labyrinth of his own mind?
At time of recording, it was ranked the 142nd best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: academy awards, anthony hopkins, best picture, film, imdb, Movie, peter francis, phil bagnall, review, stacy grouden, stage play, the father, the oscars | Leave a comment »
Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: blockbuster, Dwayne Johnson, f9, fast and furious, Fast Five, masculinity, the fast and the furious, the rock, Vin Diesel | Leave a comment »
Last year, I was thrilled to spend a lot of time on The Time is Now discussing the second season of Millennium. Since the podcast has moved on to the third season, I have taken something of a step back as a guest. That said, I have been a bit more active in the second half of the third season. I was flattered to get an invitation to discuss the show’s final episode, Goodbye to All That, with host Kurt North and guest Chris Knowles.
The series finale of Millennium is a strange beast. It tries to do a lot, and doesn’t always accomplish what it attempts with particular grace or finesse. Still, it does represent an attempt to reconcile the show to itself, to bring the characters and the narrative to a place where something resembling closure is within reach. It doesn’t entirely work, but it is a valiant effort.
As ever, you can listen directly to the episode here, subscribe to the podcast here, or click the link below.
Filed under: Millennium, Podcasts! | Tagged: chris knowles, conclusions, endings, frank black, goodbye to all that, kurt north, millennium, peter watts, serial killers | Leave a comment »
The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard for the twelfth episode of the year, for a jam-packed discussion that covered Chaos Walking, Judas and the Black Messiah and Promising Young Woman.
You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.
Filed under: Movies, Podcasts! | Tagged: chaos walking, judas and the black messiah, podcast, promising young woman, the escapist, the escapist movie podcast, the escapist movie podcast live | Leave a comment »
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