The conclusion to our four-part series on the evolution of the X-Men film franchise. If you missed it, be sure to start from the beginning! By the present year of 2016, the blockbuster subgenre that X-Men began has become a ...
Read More »The Legend of Tarzan: Wherein the hero replicates the mating calls of animals
It has been some time since I have seen a film so dedicatedly embarrassed by its own premise. I fear that the reluctance with which The Legend of Tarzan rolls out its jungle-swinging sequences is a sign that no one ...
Read More »5 times science fiction tackled racism
Here’s my theory: if more Brits were science fiction fans, the vote Leave campaign would never have succeeded. Despite how complex the issue of whether or not to remain in the EU really was, the campaign in the lead-up to ...
Read More »The X-Men Franchise: The Industry Explosion
Part 2 of our 4 part series on the X-Men franchise and its impact on comics and the film industry. X-Men came out in 2000. The following years saw an industry explosion of Marvel films produced by a variety of ...
Read More »Breaking the Glass Slipper: Labyrinth
This Monday marked the 30th anniversary of Labyrinth’s release (in the US). In these three decades, the entire world has been captivated by the story of teenager Sarah and her adventures in the labyrinth. The film is dark, imaginative, and strangely ...
Read More »Embrace of the Serpent
A cultural apocalypse looms as foreign influences pervade, corrupt and assault the native way of life. How does an indigenous people respond? No, I am not talking about the gross hyperbole of neo-nationalist nonsense currently sweeping the United Kingdom. This ...
Read More »Independence Day: Resurgence
If you’re a big fan of the original film, Independence Day: Resurgence, will probably keep you amused for two hours. It is fun, stupid, and overblown. There are pointless scenes, terrible dialogue, and questionable (at best) character motivations. But hey, ...
Read More »The X-Men Franchise: Origins
We have six major superhero films out this year. Believe it or not there was a time when this was not the case. The current glut of superhero films is of an era, and this era began with one film, ...
Read More »Electra Woman and Dyna Girl: Female superheroes are just superheroes
Superhero spoofs have been done before, from the broody to the ridiculous, tackling issues inherent in the tropes of the genre to those that shy away from controversy entirely. Being unaware of Grace Helbig or Hannah Hart and their YouTube fame, ...
Read More »When Marnie Was There: I’m one of the outsiders
It is here: the final film from Studio Ghibli prior to their hiatus in the wake studio founder Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement. Now on limited release in the UK, it has been a full year since the film reached the USA ...
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