the m0vie blog

New Escapist Video! Wanda to the Maximoff…

Posted on February 18, 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 sixth episode of WandaVision, which is mostly about how much we love Malcolm in the Middle, whether the series has the courage to hold Wanda to account for her transgressions, and the level of meta-awareness playing over the story.

Filed under: Podcasts!, Television | Tagged: a marvelous escape, jack packard, kc nwosu, malcolm in the middle, podcast, Television, wandavision | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On Why Tom Holland Not Knowing What’s Happening in “Spider-Man 3” Would Be a Bad Thing…

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist this evening. With all the debate about what Tom Holland does or doesn’t know about Spider-Man 3, I thought it was worth unpacking what that says about modern movie production.

It seems likely that Holland is just playing with the press, riffing on his familiar goofy persona. However, it’s also entirely possible that Holland doesn’t actually know what the movie he’s been shooting for eight weeks is about. Given the way in which actors have talked about working with Marvel, a lot of that material is handled in post-production, so it’s possible for an actor to have no idea of the context of the scene they’re shooting, who they’ll be appearing with, and what will actually be happening on screen. That is a problem.

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

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: film production, spider man, spider-man 3, spoilers, Tom Holland | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! Enterprising Individuals – “The Immunity Syndrome”

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Darren

I am always thrilled to get a chance to talk about Star Trek with other fans, so I was thrilled at the invitation to join the wonderful Aaron Coker on Enterprising Individuals to talk about The Immunity Syndrome.

The reason that I picked The Immunity Syndrome is because I think it’s somewhat under-appreciated in the grand Star Trek canon. It represents the culmination of a number of themes running through the original Star Trek that are often overlooked in assessing the history of the show and the franchise: the way in which Star Trek was anchored in sixties counter-culture, the recurring themes of existential dread and chaos underpinning the original show, and the series’ recurring fascination with consciousness expansion.

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

Continue reading →

Filed under: Podcasts!, The Original Series | Tagged: 1960, aaron coker, counterculture, enterprising individuals, podcast, psychedelia, sixties, star trek, the immunity syndrome | Leave a comment »

New Podcast! The Escapist Movie Podcast – “Surprise! We’re Getting A Face/Off Sequel”

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Darren

The Escapist have launched a movie podcast, and I was thrilled to join Jack Packard for the sixth episode of the year. We only have a handful of topics this week, primarily talking about the upcoming Face/Off sequel and the release of Saint Maud.

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

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: face/off, saint maud, the escapist movie podcast | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! On How “Promising Young Woman” Gazes Back…

Posted on February 15, 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 the 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 is a video that I’m particularly proud of, and intimidated by. Promising Young Woman was one of my favourite films of last year, so I was thrilled to get the chance to properly dig into it. I take a look at the way in which the film plays with audience expectations, and its understanding of the way in which it knows the audience will look at it.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: escapist, in the frame, podcast, promising young woman, the escapist, video | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the Multiverse as the Future of Franchising…

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. The past few months have seen a lot of attention directed at the multiverse, with a suggestion that both Warner Bros. and Disney would be embracing it as a storytelling model going forward.

This shift is interesting, given how much effort these companies have build into fashioning internally consistent shared universes, singular narratives unfolding across dozens of films building inexorably towards a climactic pay-off. However, this shift towards the multiverse feels like a logical response to any number of market forces: the shattering of the idea of the monoculture in the midst of the streaming wars, the pull of nostalgia, and the demands of the actors making these movies. It’s a new world. Actually, it’s several new worlds.

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

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: canon, comic book movies, comic books, continuity, infinite crisis, into the spider-verse, mcu, mulitverse of madness, multiverse, shared universe, wandavision | 1 Comment »

222. Fa yeung nin wah (In the Mood for Love) – Chinese New Year/Valentine’s Day 2020 (#239)

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Stacy Grouden and Luke Dunne, 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, a Valentine’s and Chinese New Year treat. Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love.

Sixties Hong Kong is in a state of transition. Lives overlap in the densely populated city, as the Chan and Chow families move into the same building. Over time, Mrs. Chan and Mr. Chow come to suspect that their spouses are having an illicit affair. This act of betrayal draws the two strangers closer to one another, even if neither seems entirely sure where this intersection will take them.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 239th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies, The 250 | Tagged: chaste, China, Hong Kong, in the mood for love, longing, love, luke dunne, pandemic, podcast, romance, sex, stacy grouden, The 250, time, wong kar-wai | 1 Comment »

New Escapist Column! On The Spell “Wicked” Cast On a Generation of Disney Princesses…

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With news that Jon M. Chu will be directing Universal’s upcoming adaptation of Wicked, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the show’s impressive, if incomplete, legacy.

Although Wicked has not been directly adapted for the screen yet, it casts a long shadow. An entire generation of Disney feature films have taken their cues from Wicked, at least superficially – it is a vital part of the conversation around live action films like Oz the Great and Powerful and Maleficent, an obvious point of comparison for Frozen. However, it is interesting that despite the superficial similarities these projects all share with Wicked – a revisionist villain-centric take on a classic property – none of them have been as bold or as radical as Wicked.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: disney, disney princesses, frozen, jon m. chu, maleficent, musical, oz the great and powerful, princesses, wicked | 9 Comments »

221. Star Trek VI – The Undiscovered Country (#—)

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a weekly journey through the list of the 250 best movies of all-time, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. And sometimes, because we can, a movie not on the list.

This week, to mark the passing Christopher Plummer, a special midweek bonus episode covering Nicholas Meyer’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

An explosion on the Klingon moon of Praxis sends the Klingon Empire into disarray, and forces the warrior race to consider an unlikely alliance with their old enemies in the Federation. The Enterprise is sent to meet the Klingon Chancellor, under the command of Captain James Tiberius Kirk. However, things do not go to plan.

At time of recording, it was not ranked the list of best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Continue reading →

Filed under: The 250, The Original Series | Tagged: Chang, christopher plummer, Cold War, death, hamlet, kirk, klingons, McCoy, metaphor, Nicholas Meyer, praxis, racism, Russia, Soviet Union, spock, star trek, star trek vi: the undiscovered, the future, the undiscovered country | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “Space Sweepers – Review in 3 Minutes”

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Darren

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 feature film review to the channel, discussing Space Sweepers.