Film Review: Noah

April 9, 2014

If one were to compile a list of directors that would be a suitable fit for a Biblical epic, Darren Aronofsky likely wouldn’t rank very close to the top at first glance. With his topics ranging from drug abuse (Requiem for a Dream) to fatally fame-obsessed delusional ballerinas (Black Swan), a story from the Bible doesn’t exactly fit into that class. But one needs look no further than a smaller, earlier film called Pi, in which a man was struck with the unflinching belief that the number 3.14 was a message from God detailing the apocalypse. It’s interesting then that Aronofsky’s latest film, Noah, is about a man speaking to God about just that topic. And what a film it is.

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Film Review: Endless Love

March 3, 2014

Going to the theater alone on Valentine’s Day to ironically watch Endless Love while surrounded by couples is not among the most exciting parts of my life. It’s superseded just barely by the teller asking “Just one?” when I ordered my ticket then apologizing profusely after realizing how it came across. I quickly assured him of the nature of my visit: far from wanting a wistfully romantic experience on February 14th, I was merely excited to see what someone had referred to as “a movie so hilariously bad, it’s like Airplane without the punch lines.” Sadly, this was not the case.

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Film Review: The Lego Movie

legoThe Monomyth. You have seen it in action if you’ve ever watched a Star Wars movie, seen an episode of Community, or read through The Hobbit. Commonly known as The Hero’s Journey, it’s a structure that many myths and stories follow, often unintentionally. Summed up by mythologist, lecturer and writer Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, storytellers such as George Lucas and Dan Harmon have used it to put together their creations, and Hollywood has used it as a guide to screenwriting.

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Film Review: Her

February 15, 2014

Few things hurt quite as deeply as losing a loved one. While losing someone to a deadly disease, it might be more painful when someone you’ve loved decides that they are no longer willing or …

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Film Review – Thor: Dark World

November 29, 2013

Another year, another installment in the huge Marvel movie universe. Far from just a series with a set of films, the Marvel movies are a multifaceted collection of stories and characters that are less a linear narrative and more a web of plot. Their interconnectedness gets more impressive with each passing film, as each installment hearkens back to past films and sets up new ones. Thor: The Dark World does a decent job of each, but the writing isn’t quite strong enough to rank among the best of Marvel.

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