Movie | the m0vie blog

334. John Wick: Chapter 4 (#181)

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, Chad Stahelski’s John Wick: Chapter 4.

Still exiled and alone, John Wick wanders through the global criminal underworld. As his friends fall around him and the knives of the High Table close in around him, the assassin finds himself contemplating an uncomfortable question. What does he actually want? What can he actually accomplish?

At time of recording, it was ranked 181st on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: action, commentary, donnie yen, film, franchise fatigue, hiruyuki sanada, john wick, john wick: chapter 4, just the two of us, Keanu Reeves, martial arts, morality, Movie, nobody, podcast, rules, society, The 250, This Just In | Leave a comment »

280. Apocalypse Now (#53)

Posted on March 18, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week with special guests Alex Towers and Brian Lloyd, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now.

In the midst of the Vietnam War, Benjamin Willard is given a special assignment. He is tasked with taking a patrol boat up the Nung River in pursuit of Colonel Walter Kurtz. Kurtz has apparently gone completely rogue, no longer responding to directives from command. Willard is instructed to terminate Kurtz’s command, by any means necessary. However, as Willard journeys deeper into the country, he finds himself drifting further and further from reality, embracing some sort of primal insanity.

At time of recording, it was ranked 53rd on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: alex towers, america, apocalypse now, Audio, brian lloyd, film, Filmmaking, francis ford coppola, marlon brando, martin sheen, Movie, podcast, psychedelia, season, trip, vietnam, Vietnam War | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On the Pre-Packaged Cult Appeal of “Cocaine Bear”…

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Darren

We’re launching a new column at The Escapist, called Out of Focus. It will publish every Wednesday, and the plan is to use it to look at some film and television that would maybe fall outside the remit of In the Frame, more marginal titles or objects of cult interest. This week, we took a look at the release of Cocaine Bear, which is an obvious attempt to manufacture a cult hit.

On one level, it seems like a fool’s errand to try to build a movie with the express purpose of making a cult hit. After all, cult hits only grow organically, often over years and through home media or television. However, changes to the industry – including the collapse of home media and the decline of linear television – make it very difficult for movies to find that sort of niche. Cocaine Bear feels like a movie designed with that understanding in mind, a film very consciously pitched towards streaming virality as much as theatrical box office.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: cocaine bear, cult, cult hit, cult movie, film, home media, Movie, rental, streaming, Television, universal, video stores | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a Buggy Start to Phase 5”

Posted on February 16, 2023 by Darren

I’m thrilled to be launching movie and television reviews on The Escapist. 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 five-minute film review of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which was released in cinemas this weekend.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: ant-man and the wasp: quantumania, film, mcu, Movie, review, the escapist | Leave a comment »

322. Dragonball: Evolution (-#14)

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Jonathan Victory, 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, James Wong’s Dragonball: Evolution.

Goku is a teenage boy who has been trained in martial arts by his Grandpa Gohan, but also sworn to never use those skills for his own benefit. As Goku navigates his difficult teenage years, he finds himself drawn into an epic struggle when the villainous King Piccolo suddenly reappears with a plot to conquer the world using the seven mysterious dragon balls. With an unlikely team of allies, and a looming solar eclipse, Goku finds himself on an unlikely journey of self-discovery with the fate of the world in his hands.

At time of recording, it was ranked 14th on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: anime, dragon ball, dragonball, dragonball: evolution, imdb, james marsters, James Wong, jonathan victory, justin chatwin, martial arts, Movie, podcast, The 250, The Bottom 100 | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “Scream” Went From a Deconstruction to a Celebration of Horror Tropes…

Posted on January 23, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the looming release of Scream VI, it seemed like as good a time as any to consider the state of the modern horror franchise.

When Scream premiered, it was a radical deconstruction of classic slasher movie tropes that breathed new life into the genre. It even helped to resurrect troubled slasher franchises like Halloween or Child’s Play. So it’s interesting that, as the series has progressed, it has become more and more like the kinds of movies that it was originally a reaction against. It’s a fascinating illustration of how these franchises evolve over the decades since their original release.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: deconstruction, franchise, horror, in the frame, Movie, Scream, scream 6, slasher, trailer | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Babylon” As the Evil Twin of “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”…

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist earlier this week. With the release of Babylon over Christmas, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at Damien Chazelle’s latest feature film.

Babylon is a movie that obviously exists in the context of great Hollywood movies about Hollywood. In particular, Chazelle draws overtly and heavily from Singin’ in the Rain in this parable about Hollywood’s migration from silent films to talkies. However, Chazelle does something interesting, stripping out a lot of the romance of these narratives in favour of something approaching brutal honesty. Chazelle rejects a lot of the romantic nostalgia of these sorts of films, instead offering a much grittier take. At times Babylon feels like the coke-addled evil twin of something like Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

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

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: damien chazelle, escapist, hollywood, hollywood history, in the frame, Movie, once upon a time in hollywood, singin' in the rain, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “Morbius Was Bad, Black Adam is Worse”

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Darren

I’m thrilled to be launching movie reviews on The Escapist. 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 five-minute film review of Black Adam, which is in cinemas now.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Black Adam, Dwayne Johnson, film, Movie, review, superheroes, the escapist, the rock | Leave a comment »

308. feardotcom (-#67)

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, with special guest Diamanda Hagan, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, William Malone’s feardotcom.

Detective Mike Reilly has spent the past few years in pursuit of the online serial killer who goes by the name of “the Doctor”, a murderer who streams his crimes on the internet for all to watch. Reassigned after failure to show any results, Reilly finds himself investigating a seemingly unrelated case of contagion that is spreading through New York City. However, Reilly soon discovers that the two cases are more closely linked than he could have imagined.

At time of recording, it was ranked 67th on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.