Movie | the m0vie blog

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.

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Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: diamanda hagan, feardotcom, film, Found footage, franchsie pictures, frankenstein, halloween, horror, internet, Jeffrey Combs, luxemberg, Moral panic, Movie, Natascha McElhone, podcast, prurient, puritanical, review, se7en, serial killer, stephen dorff, Stephen Rea, The 250, The Bottom 100, torture porn, Udo Kier, william malone | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “Halloween Ends, Thank Goodness”

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Darren

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: david gordon green, escapist, halloween, halloween ends, michael myers, Movie, nightmare, review, slasher, universal | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “Prey is Worthy of the Predator Brand”

Posted on August 4, 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 three-minute film review of Prey, which is streaming on Hulu from tomorrow.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: amber midthunder, dan trachtenberg, escapist, film, Movie, predator, prey, review, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! “Jurassic World: Dominion is Bad… Very Bad”

Posted on June 15, 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 three-minute film review of Jurassic World Dominion, which is in theatres now.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: film, jurassic world, jurassic world dominion, Movie, non-review review, review, the escapist | Leave a comment »

270. Ratsasan (Raatchasan) (#250)

Posted on January 22, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, 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, Ramkumar’s Ratsasan.

Arun Kumar aspires to be a director. He has the perfect serial killer script, but nobody will make it. Resigned to this reality, Arun accepts a job in the police force, working with his brother-in-law. However, it isn’t too long before Arun discovers that his unique insight into serial killers might help to catch a monster currently targetting teenager girls. It will take all of Arun’s wits and courage to earn his happy ending.

At time of recording, it was ranked 250th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: film, indian, kollywood, Movie, podcast, ramkumar, serial killer, tamil, The 250, vishnu vishal | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “Scream” is a Cutting Commentary on the Noise Around the “Star Wars” Sequels…

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Scream this weekend, it seemed like a good opportunity to delve into the latest entry in the beloved horror franchise.

What is most interesting about the latest Scream is the extent to which it feels largely divorced and separated from the horror genre, particularly compared to the earlier films in the franchise. Instead, Scream seems much more engaged with the modern Star Wars films, borrowing key plot points and background lore from recent entries in the franchise. More than that, it’s a film that is very aggressively engaged with the fandom discussion around those films.

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