Category: Film Analysis Blog

Eighth Grade Review

Eighth Grade Review

3.5 out of 4 stars (3.5 / 4)

A harrowingly intimate and oftentimes comical portrayal of the way social media has complicated the already overwhelming transition from childhood to adulthood.

Eighth Grade marks the writing and directorial debut of multifaceted entertainer Bo Burnham, and on paper, a tender film such as this feels a bit unexpected. Burnham’s work, while always hilarious and witty, is consistently laced with profanity and touches on provocative, sensitive subjects in an almost arrogant manner. If one looks beyond this exaggerated stage persona though, Burnham’s songs have always contained cutting insights into the human condition and the hypocrisy present in the world. Songs like “Repeat Stuff” offer a biting criticism of the carefully constructed nature of mainstream pop songs but also demonstrate a degree of empathy for the unsuspecting adolescent victims of this manipulation. Bearing this in mind, it makes perfect sense that Burnham has masterfully crafted a sincerely honest portrait of the angst and dread that accompany growing up, whilst delivering this message through his own comedic lens.

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Mission: Impossible – Fallout Review

Mission Impossible Fallout Review

3.5 out of 4 stars (3.5 / 4)

Fallout has accomplished the impossible as the sixth installment of a franchise spanning 22 years. It is as fun as ever with no sign of running out of steam.

I recall seeing Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol back during December of 2011 in IMAX. I would characterize myself as a casual Mission Impossible fan at best, and attended this showing purely because there was a sneak peek of The Dark Knight Rises attached to it. Much to my surprise, despite being the fourth installment of a franchise spanning 15 years, the film was incredibly engaging and fresh. It was easily one of the most entertaining films of that year. 2015’s Rogue Nation more than maintained the same level of quality and even introduced some fantastic new characters. Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson) was particularly noteworthy, as she provided the franchise with a strong female presence, which was a far cry from the premiere film’s tendency to have every female character possess no discernable trait apart from wanting to be romantically entangled with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise).

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Ant-Man and the Wasp Review

Ant Man and the Wasp Review

3 out of 4 stars (3 / 4)

Featuring winning performances from its titular characters and inventive visual gags, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a buzzy feel-good Summer popcorn movie, even if the story’s familiarity serves as a prime example of Marvel’s worst tendencies when it comes to sequels.

In a release strategy reminiscent of 2015’s Ant-Man, we once again find a small-stakes adventure featuring the well-meaning but morally grey Scott Lang following arguably the most ambitious and grand story yet with Infinity War. Although never critical or financial failures, Marvel has had a mixed track record in terms of ingenuity when it comes to their sequels. On one hand we have films like Thor: Ragnarok and Captain America: The Winter Solider which took risks in order to produce superior films to their prior films. On the other hand, however, some sequel efforts such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Thor: The Dark World are almost carbon copies of their predecessors and despite being enjoyable, they end up coming off as shallow and lazy. Unfortunately, Ant-Man and the Wasp is more Thor: The Dark World than Thor: Ragnarok as it is essentially a retread of the first film’s plot points, leading to a somewhat disappointing chapter for a largely phenomenal Phase 3 of Marvel films. Yet, the film has a lot going for it, and despite being disappointing by Marvel’s standard, Ant-Man and the Wasp is still one of the more enjoyable Summer blockbusters around.

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Are Marvel Films Making Us Smarter?

Are Marvel Films Making Us Smarter?

It has become fun to bash the Marvel films.

There is no denying that despite increasing box office receipts and new records being broken with seemingly each new entry, the franchise has encountered mounting snobbery and cynicism from various critics and media outlets, as seems to be the nature with anything that is massively popular. A common criticism of the films is that they are overly reliant on prior stories with a particularly negative assessment from the New Yorker denigrating Infinity War as nothing more than a two-and-a-half-hour ad for the films that preceded it and those that will follow.

Others, such as a piece from Film School Rejects, have criticized the franchise’s adverse impact on storytelling, stating that the films’ proclivity for constantly teasing future installments with post-credit scenes reduces the impact the current stories are having. The mass genocide depicted during the conclusion of Infinity War was especially criticized as feeling inconsequential due to so many of the “deceased” characters having sequels already teased from their own respective film’s post-credit scenes. Additionally, the article criticizes how difficult it is for new fans to jump in thanks to the story being crafted in a way that requires seeing every prior film to completely understand the events depicted and fully reap the emotional payoffs.

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Is it Fair to Review TV Shows on a Weekly Episodic Basis?

Are TV Shows Worth Reviewing on an Episodic Weekly Basis?
Westworld’s polarizing finale for a mostly praised Season 2 brings up the question of whether episodes should be reviewed without first seeing the entire season.

With many still attempting to unpack the multitude of events and different timelines that transpired during Westworld’s recent season 2 finale, it is clear that despite having fans talking, the episode has proven to be polarizing to say the least. Reviews run the gamut from many stating that the ending was overly convoluted with others praising this complexity and unwillingness from the creators to dumb the material down for fans. It’s interesting to note that many fans who provided the finale with a mixed to negative review were in fact raving about the majority of episodes that preceded the final episode. This disparity raises the question, is a television season that is comprised of well-received episodes, but a lackluster finale a success or a failure? Should the preceding episode scores be retroactively impacted, and should television seasons be reviewed and given a score evaluation on an episodic weekly basis?

***Spoilers for The Handmaid’s Tale and Game of Thrones follow in this article:

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Lack of Diversity is Impacting Film Reviews, Only Not in the Way You Might Think

Lack of Diversity in Film Criticism is Impacting Reviews Only Not in the Way You Might Think

Coming off the heels of an overall push for diversity within Hollywood, arguably the impetus being the #OscarsSoWhite reaction in 2015, there has been a call to action from several within the industry that this same sense of inclusion be extended to film criticism. Most recently, acclaimed actress Brie Larson (Room and the upcoming Captain Marvel), upon receiving her Crystal + Lucy Award, echoed a similar sentiment when she stated “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work for him about [A] Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him.” Additionally, as reported by The Guardian, a recent report from the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism uncovered that of all the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for the 100 top-grossing films in 2017, 77.8% were written by men and 22% by women, with 82% of reviewers being white and only 18% from “under-represented racial groups.”

Larson’s statement coupled with this recent report raises the question of whether films focused on diverse ages, genders, and nationalities, such as A Wrinkle in Time, are being inadequately assessed, and if the bulk of critics being white males could lead to a prejudice, whereby film evaluations are reflecting a bias against diversity. While the push for different perspectives in film criticism is the natural and long overdue next step to better reflect the opinions of society as a whole, psychological research on stereotyping and prejudice indicates that such a measure for inclusion may not have the effect many are anticipating.

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom Review

2 out of 4 stars (2 / 4)

While Fallen Kingdom makes an effort to take the story in some intriguing new directions, the film disappointingly focuses on a by the numbers conflict and falls prey to the same shortcomings as the previous entry, leading to a mixed experience.

Fallen Kingdom, the follow up to 2015’s colossal box office hit Jurassic World, roared into theaters over the weekend, and with the release come some dino-sized expectations to deliver on more prehistoric action and adventure. Although not flawless, Jurassic World for the most part was able to provide fans of the franchise with thrills reminiscent of the original Jurassic Park even if the characters and overarching themes severely paled by comparison. Fallen Kingdom thankfully makes an effort to avoid falling into the common sequel pitfall of merely providing a bigger, stronger, more ferocious version of its predecessor, and attempts to take the story in some new directions. The film’s unfortunate reluctance to follow through on this initial potential, coupled with being crippled by many of 2015’s Jurassic World’s weaknesses, results in a mixed experience however.

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Critical Divide: Why Audiences and Critics are Split on Hereditary

Critical Divide Why Critics and Audiences are Split on Hereditary

Last week, Hereditary finished within the top 5 at the U.S. box office, with its $13 million domestic gross setting a record as independent movie studio A24’s largest opening ever. A24 is responsible for some extremely well-regarded movies such as the Oscar Best Picture winner Moonlight, and similarly praised films such as Ex Machina, The Disaster Artist, and Lady Bird to name a few, proving this record to be no small feat. Additionally Hereditary scored an astronomically high 92% Rotten Tomatoes score as well as an arguably even more impressive score of 86 on Metacritic (and a perfect 4 star rating from Cinematic Insights). Despite all of this overwhelming acclaim, the film received an atrocious D+ CinemaScore from audiences, which is very much at odds with what critics have been praising about the film. This result begs the question of why this discrepancy exists.

Here are the 4 reasons why audiences and critics are split on Hereditary.

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Incredibles 2 Review

Incredibles 2 Review

3.5 out of 4 stars (3.5 / 4)

With the same embrace of unadulterated fun as its predecessor mixed with some exploration of timely issues, Incredibles 2 is a dazzling thrill proving that the extensive wait for this entry was well worth it.

Of the extensive pantheon of Pixar films, The Incredibles always seemed to be the ripest story for a continuation, as the original was a fantastic origin story that set the groundwork for more adventures with the super-powered Parr family. This made it all the more surprising to me when other Pixar sequels seemed to take priority, such as Finding Nemo, Cars, and Monsters, Inc. Although The Incredibles is quintessential Pixar with the story being unafraid to tackle adult themed stories such as marital problems and midlife crises, the series offered a distinct flavor that its peers never had, prioritizing the thrill of action and adventure over the deeper sentiment possessed by other Pixar films. Returning writer and director Brad Bird understands that this embrace of adventure and fun is what makes The Incredibles so special and Incredibles 2 continues in this spirit producing possibly the funniest Pixar film to date.

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Hold that Tweet! Why Snap Film Judgments are Negatively Impacted by Cognitive Biases

Hold That Tweet Why Snap Film Judgments are Negatively Impacted by Cognitive Biases

With the proliferation of social media it has become increasingly difficult to not encounter at least a few opinions about current hot topics when scrolling through your newsfeed. This is especially true when it comes to the latest film releases. Over the past weekend it seemed as if every time I looked through my Twitter feed I was bombarded with preliminary reactions to currently trending movies, such as the popular horror film Hereditary or the box office hit Oceans 8. Recently, during the annual Festival of Disruption, esteemed writer and director David Lynch commented on this abundance of opinions about films on social media, stating that “Unless you’re a poet, words will fail you.”

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