in the frame | the m0vie blog

New Escapist Column! On “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” and Boring Blockbuster Third Acts…

Posted on June 9, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, it seemed like as good a time as any to reflect on one of the blights on modern big-budget blockbusters: the bland computer-generated third act throwdown in a big empty space with no sense of geography or texture.

In recent years, it has become increasingly common for these sorts of spectacles to climax with a gigantic final battle in a vast computer-generated wasteland, with no defining features or landmarks, but instead just a big empty space with no sense of where objects are in relationship to one another. Rise of the Beasts is perhaps the most egregious example of the trend, but there are plenty of others: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther. It’s a hollow, empty, cardboard world.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Battle, cgi, civilians, Computer-generated imagery, computer-generated wastelands, death, destruction, finale, in the frame, marvel, mcu, rise of the beasts, scale, spectacle, the escapist, third act, transformers, urban devastation, war on terror | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Across the Spider-Verse” as a Superhero Empowerment Fantasy…

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it seemed like a good opportunity to delve into what the movie is about, particularly its relationship to other recent superhero movies.

After all, what is the point of superhero movies? What are they about? What purpose do they serve? In recent years, the superhero genre has come to be shaped by the language of militarism and law enforcement, treating superheroes as cops and soldiers who just happen to wear masks. Across the Spider-Verse is a film largely about grappling with the legacy of that trend, in which the central villains are “an elite strike team” of “all the best Spider-People” whose job it is to maintain the status quo, no matter how many innocent people suffer to maintain the established order.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: canon, continuity, cops, in the frame, into the spider-verse, law enforcement, miles morales, militarism, policing, spider-man: across the spider-verse, status quo, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Into the Spider-Verse” as a Postmodern Superhero Remix…

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse this weekend, it seems like as good an opportunity as any to take a look back at Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Into the Spider-Verse is arguably the best superhero movie of the previous decade. A large part of the film’s appeal is that it is a superhero movie built around the understanding that its audience has seen other superhero movies and understands the classic beats of the superhero origin story. As such, it can speed them up and slow them down, iterate over them and subvert them, using the audience’s familiarity to create a postmodern meditation on the very idea of Spider-Man.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Conventions, in the frame, meaning, memes, memetic, Narrative, pop culture, postmodern, rhythm, sony, spider man, spider-verse, storytelling, tropes, viral | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the “John Wick” Movies as a Love Letter to Stuntwork…

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the upcoming release of John Wick: Chapter 4, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at the action franchise.

In modern Hollywood, the John Wick movies stand out from a lot of their competitors by embracing a very practical and material philosophy, leaning heavily on in-camera effects for maximum impact. However, the films are more than just a showcase for stuntwork as one of the industry’s most undervalued artforms. They are also an argument for stunt work as an artform unto itself, particularly in the way that they emphasis the importance of action as a means of storytelling and the way in which they frequently place their stunts in the context of more broadly-accepted forms of artistic expression.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, ballerina, ballet, buster keaton, charlie chaplin, history, hollywood, in the frame, john wick, Keanu Reeves, Performers, silent cinema, stunts, stuntwork, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the Use of Violence in “The Last of Us”…

Posted on March 16, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist earlier this week. With The Last of Us wrapping up its first season, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at the show, and in particular the way that the show tells its story.

The Last of Us is, in many ways, a study of violence. It’s a study of brutality and horror. What makes The Last of Us so interesting is the way that it chooses to portray such violence and brutality. Indeed, the show is remarkably restrained in its depiction of graphic on-screen violence. Instead, the show’s cinematic language focuses on the idea that violence ultimately wounds both perpetrator and victim. In many cases, it’s the people left behind who have to carry that with them.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: hbo, in the frame, joel, perpetrator, storytelling, the escapist, the last of us, victim, violence | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! On Phase 4 as Marvel’s Midlife Crisis…

Posted on March 14, 2023 by Darren

We’re thrilled to be launching a fortnightly video companion piece to In the Frame at The Escapist. The video will typically launch every second Monday, and be released on the magazine’s YouTube channel. And the video will typically be separate from the written content. This is kinda cool, because we’re helping relaunch the magazine’s film content – so if you can throw a subscription our way, it would mean a lot.

This week, with the recent launch of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, we took a look back at Marvel’s Phase 4, trying to make sense of one of the shared universe’s most disjointed and uneven phases.

Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: age, Comics, demographics, films, imperial phase, in the frame, marvel, mcu, meaning, midlife crisis, Movies, phase 4, popularity, success | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On What Links “Andor” and “The Mandolorian”…

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist yesterday evening. With the new season premiere of The Mandolorian, it seemed like a good opportunity to look at the thematic ties that bind the series to Andor.

Much of the discussion around Andor has focused on how the show is fundamentally different from so much modern Star Wars. However, it’s also worth acknowledging the overlap that exists between Andor and The Mandolorian. Both shows are built around similar thematic ideas, the exploration of what it means to resist the emergence of fascism. In particular, both shows explore the idea that the biggest challenge facing those who would challenge fascism is factionalism and internal division.

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

Filed under: Television | Tagged: alliances, andor, escapist, factionalism, fascism, in the frame, mandolorian, politics, star wars, the escapist, themes | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “Creed III” Brings Anime to Hollywood…

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release and success of Creed III, it seemed like a good opportunity to look at what makes the film stand apart from what came before.

Actor and director Michael B. Jordan has been quite frank about the influence of anime on his approach to Creed III, and that influence shines through. However, it’s also part of a larger trend in modern Hollywood. The industry spent decades trying to directly adapt anime properties for American audiences, with minimal success. However, recent years have seen the emergence of a generation of artists who grew up with the form as a standard part of their media diet, and it’s bleeding through into works like NOPE, The Bad Guys and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. It’s a fascinating trend.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptation, anime, creed, creed 3, creed iii, hollywood, in the frame, influence, michael b. jordan, rocky, Rocky Balboa, ryan coogler, the escapist, translation | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “The Fallen Sun” Puts “Luther” in “Skyfall”…

Posted on February 27, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Luther: The Fallen Sun in theatres this weekend, it seemed like a good opportunity to discuss the feature film adaptation of Britain’s favourite trenchcoated detective.

For over a decade, there have been rumours that Idris Elba was a prime candidate to take over the role of James Bond from Daniel Craig, to the point that the actor has spent years talking about his shifting attitude towards the possibility in the press. Part of what’s so interesting about The Fallen Sun is that the movie feels like Neil Cross’ attempt to construct a James Bond movie around his leading man. More than that, to build a very specific James Bond movie: Skyfall, starring John Luther.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: daniel craig, dci john luther, in the frame, james bond, john luther, luther, luther: the fallen sun, Skyfall, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! On Why Faithfulness is Not a Measure of Quality in Adaptation…

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Darren

This week, with ongoing debates about the fidelity of shows like The Rings of Power, The Witcher: Blood Origin and The Last of Us, it seemed like a good opportunity to discuss the art of adaption. In particular, the question of whether faithfulness and quality are in any way related to one another.