Filed under: Television | Tagged: escapist magazine, Game of Thrones, hbo, HBO Max, in the frame, internet, legacy, popularity, Television, the escapist | Leave a comment »
New Escapist Column! On the Legacy of “Game of Thrones”…
Posted on April 10, 2021 by Darren
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the tenth (or “iron”) anniversary of Game of Thrones coming up, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the show’s enduring legacy – in particular, the disconnect between the internet’s narrative of that legacy and the reality of it.
To listen to the internet, Game of Thrones ended in such a way as to erase its cultural footprint and any residual cultural goodwill towards it. It’s not uncommon to hear people talk, at length, about how nobody talks about Game of Thrones anymore. However, there’s a fascinating dissonance here, because Game of Thrones appears to be thriving by any quantifiable measure.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Non-Review Review: Thunder Force
Posted on April 9, 2021 by Darren
There is a recurring joke in Thunder Force about how one character cannot tell a joke. It feels like a metaphor for the film itself.
To be fair, it’s more than just the premise of that joke itself, it is also the execution. The opening section of Thunder Force offers something of an origin story for its two lead characters, Lydia and Emily. The two meet at school. At school, their only other friend is a geeky kid named Clyde. In these flashbacks, Clyde is introduced with an obvious crush on Lydia, and an inability to tell a joke properly. When the film rejoins Lydia in adulthood, Clyde is quickly reintroduced and still unable to tell a joke properly.
A thundering disappointment.
The basic law of comedy – or storytelling – would suggest that this is a plot point being set up so that it might pay off. It is the standard “rule of three.” A concept is introduced to the audience. It is then repeated to establish it. Then, finally, it is subverted. It is that third iteration of the concept that serves as a punchline. It’s the heart of the joke. Instead, Clyde just disappears from the film. His inability to tell a joke is ultimately just an inability to tell a joke. It eats up screentime in building this world, and doesn’t go anywhere.
There’s something almost fourth-wall-breaking in this. It’s a joke about how a character in this movie cannot tell a joke, told in such a way that it isn’t really a joke either. It’s a moment that captures so much of Thunder Force, albeit in an unflattering light. It is also, much like the rest of Thunder Force, painfully unfunny.
The script could use a punch-up.
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Ben Falcone, bobby cannavale, comedy, film, jason bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Movie, netflix, non-review review, Octavia Spencer, review | Leave a comment »
New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “A Monster of a Godzilla vs. Kong Podcast”
Posted on April 8, 2021 by Darren
The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard for the eleventh episode of the year, with a special guest Liz Finnegan, for a titanic discussion of Godzilla vs. Kong.
You can listen to back episodes of the podcast here, click the link below or even listen directly.
Filed under: Movies, Podcasts! | Tagged: godzilla vs. kong, jack packard, liz finnegan, the escapist movie podcast | Leave a comment »
New Escapist Column! On “Guardians of the Galaxy” as the MCU’s Best Exploration of Loss…
Posted on April 8, 2021 by Darren
I published a new column at The Escapist yesterday. With all the talk about how so much of the modern Marvel Cinematic Universe is about “loss”, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at Guardians of the Galaxy.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is not a machine that is designed to deal with concepts like loss head on. After all, most of its major departures were down to contract negotiations rather than narrative priorities. Characters are often resurrected, and losses are often temporary. This is what makes Guardians of the Galaxy so compelling. Director James Gunn understands that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a space into which the audience and characters escape to avoid dealing with loss, even if it haunts them still.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: death, decay, grief, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, James Gunn, loss, the escapist, trauma | Leave a comment »
New Podcast! The Time is Now – Season 3, Episode 21 (“Via Dolorosa”)
Posted on April 6, 2021 by Darren
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 penultimate episode, Via Dolorosa, with host Kurt North and guest Chris Knowles.
The series finale of Millennium is an episode that I’m admittedly divided on. It’s a two-parter that attempts to a staggering amount: to tell one last serial killer of the week story, to pull back and look at the bigger picture around these monsters, to wrap up the major character arcs for both the season and the show, and to serve as a satisfying conclusion to an uneven season and to a wildly disjointed series as a whole. It’s a lot to ask of a two parter, and Millennium certainly makes a valiant – if imperfect – 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, kurt north, millennium, Narrative, podcast, reflection, serial killers, show, Television, the time is now, violence | Leave a comment »
New Escapist Column! On the Meaninglessness of “Godzilla vs. Kong”…
Posted on April 5, 2021 by Darren
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release and success of Godzilla vs. Kong on HBO Max and in cinemas last week, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the film’s aggressive rejection of meaning.
Godzilla vs. Kong is not a movie particularly concerned with subtext or metaphor. It is not a parable for mankind’s confrontation of the unknown, the hunger for war that lurks in every human heart, or even the dangers of how mankind is treating the environment. Instead, it’s a movie about a giant monkey punching a giant lizard until one of them falls down. However, maybe there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, particularly following a year that has – for many people – been over-infused with meaning.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: blockbusters, Godzilla, godzilla vs. kong, in the frame, king kong, meaning, pandemic, the escapist | Leave a comment »
New Escapist Column! On How the MonsterVerse Has Forsaken Awe and Wonder…
Posted on April 3, 2021 by Darren
I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist yesterday. With the release of Godzilla vs. Kong, it seemed like a good opportunity to look at the film in the context of the larger MonsterVerse – in particular, Godzilla and Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
Godzilla vs. Kong is pure spectacle. The film features a host of impressive and showstopping sequences, including two major bouts between the title characters. However, there is something missing in all of this carnage. Like King of the Monsters before it, and like a lot of other modern blockbusters, there’s a curious lack of awe and wonder to the spectacle on display.
You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.
A smashing success?
Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: awe, Godzilla, godzilla vs. kong, gojira, in the frame, jurassic park, king kong, monsters, monsterverse, Movie, steven spielberg, the escapist, wonder | Leave a comment »
228. Interstellar (#29)
Posted on April 3, 2021 by Darren
Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Andy Hazel, 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, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.
Cooper is a former astronaut who has resigned himself to life on a farm, raising his two children Tom and Murph. However, when the fates align to send Cooper back out into space, he finds himself faced with the terrible choice to leave his kids behind with no idea of when – or even if – he might return.
At time of recording, it was ranked the 29th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: andy hazel, anne hathaway, belief, Christopher Nolan, Emotion, faith, family, feminism, god, hope, interstellar, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey, podcast, religion, science fiction, stanley kubrick, TENET, The 250, time | Leave a comment »
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