“For the Girl Who Has Everything” could have easily been a season finale as it served as a smart reminder of the series progress, reinforced the reoccurring themes of family and what makes a hero, had a significant death, and reset the status quo to some key relationships.
“Home Again” doesn’t exactly hit all the notes it’s aiming for, but it at least attempts to do two important things that The X-Files is capable of doing on a good day: 1) establish an emotional connection between the audience and the central characters and 2) scare the hell out of people.
January 2016 marked the one year anniversary of Marvel’s new Star Wars line, launched in the wake of Disney’s acquisition of LucasFilm and the transfer of the comic book license to Disney’s in-house comic book company. In that year, Marvel has churned out comics on a level that is somehow both restrained and filled with gusto, in that, they released a ton of Star Wars comics in that first year, but at the same time, it would have surprised nobody if they’d released a whole lot more. The quality level of those comics, in three ongoing series (Star Wars, Darth Vader and Kanan: The Last Padawan) and five limited series (Princess Leia, Lando, Shattered Empire, Chewbacca, and one issue of Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker) has remained remarkably consistent, maintaining a level of above average quality alongside some top notch issues and a (surprisingly) few out-and-out stinkers. Looking back over that first year, here are the ten best moments from across the line, the moments that made reading Star Wars comics this last year worthwhile.
America has always possessed a winning mentality, and proudly boasts about it at any passing opportunity. Between politicians who claim the United States is the greatest country in the world – with no statistical data on hand to back such claims, no less – and college frat boys wearing tees or tank tops that read …
Flaws aside, Retroblade is amazing! Unique concept, great storytelling, superb art that makes inferior art tremble, and brilliant world-building. This comic is still in its early stages, so there is no better time than now to jump aboard. Updates are every Friday, so I suggest you start reading. NOW!
Tallulah Directed and written by Sian Heder USA, 2016 Sian Heder (writer and producer on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black) fleshes out the intersecting lives of three different women in her intricate debut feature. Tallulah follows a rambling young woman (Ellen Page of Juno, Inception, and The East) who bucks tradition and lives in …
When Deadman Wonderland and High School of the Dead book a room for some nocturnal adventures, Mahou Shoujo of the End comes forth. It’s post-apocalyptic story that has magical girls, or “mahou shoujo”, at the forefront instead of your typical undead bunch.
Though it feels like being locked in a bathroom with the ‘life of the party’ for two hours, there’s no resisting the inspired energy and vulgarity of ‘Deadpool.’
“Blood Ties” finds time for bombastic action and strong character work, but also highlights one of the show’s central problems: its premise.
Because the big game is coming I thought it would be fun to explore some of the movies that I think of when I think of football. Some of them are light and fun, others, however, challenge the strange relationship I have with the almost-embarrassingly violent game I love. When compiling this Top 5 Football Movies …
In director Noah Baumbach’s 2014 film While We’re Young, Ben Stiller’s ageing Generation-X’er is fawning over the supposedly “democratic” pop-culture tastes of his new-found millennial friends. With a video collection where The Goonies rubs shoulders with Citizen Kane, a representation of the meeting of low art and high art if there ever was one, Stiller’s …
Too often, filmmakers treat age as a character trait in and of itself. The elderly are depicted rarely in cinema, and, the few times that they are shown, their seniority often dominates their characterization to the point where anything else about them gets occluded. Some notable exceptions are Michael Haneke’s Amour and David Lynch’s The Straight Story, but films such as these are outnumbered by the bland Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films and their ilk. Most frequently, films mark their aged subjects as “old” and show little interest in them beyond that.
Vaughan gives satisfaction in the answers but also a tantalizing peek of what comes next. I cheered. This is a winning arc conclusion to an outstanding new series.
It seems like there have been almost as many Batman composers as their have been actors, if not more. For every new incarnation of the Caped Crusader, some new composer has to step up and make sure he has the musical accompaniment he deserves (and the one he needs blah blah predictable joke). Of course, …
Cry Havoc opens with a quotation from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Already, the book promises a story both deeply informed by literary tradition and steeped in lore. Even without the high bar set for mythology-based stories, *ahem, WicDiv* this will be an ambitious story to tell.
1981 saw the release of Michael Mann’s feature directorial debut Thief. James Caan plays Frank, a professional safecracker whose plan to settle down spirals out-of-control when he becomes indebted to an underworld criminal organization.
In his 30-year career as a composer, Carter Burwell’s film scores have run the veritable cinematic gamut. From composing for Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation., Where the Wild Things Are) to his work being the best parts of the Twilight saga, Burwell’s résumé is sporadic and unconventional, even for a man who makes film music for …
Lady Gangster is now practically long forgotten in the annals of film history, kept afloat by its existence in the public domain, hence readily available for any and all that wish to take a chance on it online. Frankly, there isn’t a bevy of ingredients operating in its favour, but the few that do truthfully make the film worthwhile, chief among the presence of leading lady Faye Emerson. In light of the burgeoning era of strong female leads, anyone interested in seeing what a movie from 1940s with an equivalent role is like would do well to check out Lady Gangster.
Tales of Symphonia was originally released in 2003 (2004 outside of Japan) on the GameCube. At the time, it was regarded as a great addition to the purple box’s library and a good JRPG that was fun to play both alone and with friends. The story was regarded as very much “been there, done that” …
Oscar Isaac needs to slow the heck down. Not because he’s liable to burn himself out, but because he’s quite frankly making every other actor in the business look bad. He’s like the Nicholas Angel of actors. Able to step effortlessly from small, intimate indie projects like Ex Machina to massive blockbusters like The Force Awakens and …
With clever dialogue and rapid plotting of Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher, the fierceness, cuteness, and sadness of Babs Tarr’s art, and the battle of genres and tones created by colorists Lee Loughridge and Serge Lapointe, Batgirl #48 is an excellent outing for the title, and there are more cool reveals to come. There is definitely a lot of darkness to endure before the colorful fun returns. If it ever does.
Dejah Thoris #1 introduces new fans to one of science fiction’s oldest heroines (She first appeared in the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel A Princess of Mars in 1912.) while setting up a scenario where she must “find herself” as a character by going on the run as a common soldier.
The Merc with the Mouth is infamous for two (often overlapping) categories of crazed conversation: 1) comedic quips similar to Spider-man’s, sans a profanity filter, perhaps slightly more emphatic on non-sequiturs and random ramblings, and 2) fourth wall shattering soliloquies to the reader. For many, the concept of a character cognizant of being in a …