Robin Williams, both the funniest and most serious man alive, was found dead in his home today of an apparent suicide. He was 63. This sucks.
Going through Williams’ entire career is pointless, because there is just so much to pick apart. It seems like everybody is reacting to his death in the same way, yet remembering a different part of him. That is because Robin Williams did so much, and was known for so many things.
The comic book movie is alive and well, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
For a bit of time, I tried to resist it. Maybe I just wasn’t used to living in a world where it was cool to like comics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. As long as knowing the score to the Giant game isn’t a necessary element of small talk, I can get used to this new world order.
It makes sense why Hollywood would want to adapt graphic novels and comic books onto the big screen. After all, comic books are kind of like storyboards but with a lot more onomatopoeias. Today’s breed of comic book movies go well beyond superheroes. There’s anti-heroes, talking trees, and even Canadians.
Comic book movies have become a genre of their own, albeit one that encompasses many other sub-genres. With Guardians of the Galaxy out this week, shattering box office records and bridging the divide between fan boys and critics, it is as good a time as ever to celebrate comics. I have dabbled in reading comics, but my knowledge of them comes more from film. Here are the rules in order to be qualified for this list:
1. Must be adapted from either a comic book or graphic novel.
2. Either it is the best possible representation of a comic book on the screen, or it does something completely unprecedented with the format.
3. It is just plain f***ing awesome.
4. It does not star Ben Affleck. Sorry, buddy.
Read my complete list below:
Guardians of the Galaxy marks the first time in a long time in which I was actively rooting for the arrival of another Marvel feature. That might have just been from the odd sight of a raccoon and a tree interacting with one another. Guardians of the Galaxy is the latest film to come out of the Marvel Universe, and it almost feels like they hit the restart button with this one, and got nearly perfect results.
I had an inkling, which turned out to be very wrong, that Guardians of the Galaxy might completely reinvent both superhero and action movies. I was wrong. Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t reinvent any genre, and it doesn’t even try to do so. Guardians of the Galaxy is a product of Marvel, yet it also bears director James Gunn’s incredibly original voice. James Gunn worked the system: he made a fun summer blockbuster that also happens to be an auteur piece.
Sometimes, you like a movie. Sometimes, you’re not sure if you should like a movie. Sometimes, you only like a movie because you feel like you’re supposed to like that movie. Under the Skin seems to fall under that last category.
Under the Skin is the latest film from British director Jonathan Glazer. I am told by people smarter than me that he is a very good director. Some might call him a visionary. While I haven’t seen Birth or Sexy Beast yet, I can get on board with those claims. The guy knows how to frame a shot and tell an entire three act story using barely any dialogue. This is a pretty big feat considering the fact that most sci-fi movies today are bogged down by exposition.
The amazing part about Boyhood, well, one of the amazing parts, is that it is so relatable on a broad scale, despite being incredibly specific. Boyhood understands so many basic parts of the human experience but hey, most kids from Connecticut don’t get a shotgun on their fifteenth birthday.
Boyhood is one of those films that critics save up all of their hyperboles for. You can call it amazing and you can call it groundbreaking and it both instances it wouldn’t sound like you were exaggerating. In this case, listen to the hype.
Well, you all demanded it (at least in my head you all did), so I delivered.
I decided that my smash hit piece on the most memorable dogs in film could not stand alone. Given that TV is going through some sort of Golden Age right now, I figure that the dogs of the small screen deserve just as much attention as the dogs on the silver screen.
So here is my list of the most memorable dogs on TV. And this time, there are no rules. Talking dogs and animated dogs rule! Anarchy! The Purge!
“We have always been a nation of immigrants who hate the new immigrants.” -Jon Stewart
Between Colonial Williamsburg and 90s nostalgia, humans have a bad habit of white washing history. Between the men dressed in funny outfits and the All That reruns, we often forget the wars and the dysentery.
Because of this, I praise the heavens above when a film like The Immigrant comes out. This is the kind of film that treats history less like an epic poem and more like a rap lyric. In other words, this film is aware that life is a dirty game, and you’ve got to play dirty to win. Now, excuse me while I slap myself in the face for writing those last few sentences.
This article is based on a TV show that I actually watched. The names and events reflect what I actually saw.
The best drama that I have seen on television so far this year is the one that I expected to actively dislike. Instead of trying to simply imitate its source material, Fargo went in a completely new direction. It kept all of the darkest elements of the original Fargo while weaving together a completely original story. It is a triumph.
While Fargo is its own entity, it also does Joel and Ethan Coen proud. The Coen Brothers have such an original voice that it seems nearly impossible to replicate it. Yet, Noah Hawley somehow managed to do this. The Coen Brothers Universe are the kind of people who base stories off true events that never happen and adapt movies from novels that they have never read. Fargo does just the same, and it has a blast messing with our heads.
What Fargo made me realize is that everything the Coen Brothers does definitely exists in the same world. It is a singular universe that I may just enjoy more than, say, the one created by the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. While Fargo goes its own way, it also references films of Coen Brothers past, and connects itself to their universe many times over. Like Deputy Molly Solverson would do, its time to create a crazy web of conspiracies. Here is every Coen Brothers reference that I could find in FX’s Fargo:
It is impossible to know what will be revered down the road, but it is truly something to behold when you witness a film that you are just sure will be a future cult classic. From the detailed world to the crazy monologues, I get a good feeling that Snowpiercer will be just that.
Snowpiercer, the latest film from Bong Joon-ho, is a rare breed: too smart to be a summer blockbuster, yet too fun to be a moody summer indie flick. So instead, it is a little bit of both, with fantastic results. Based on a graphic novel, Snowpiercer takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. After a solution to solve Global Warming fails, the Earth freezes over. A select few are given their own ark, in the form of a train that runs on a perpetual engine. Snowpiercer is able to explain this in a manner that is much more succinct than the normal blockbuster would. This is a film that truly knows how to pace itself.
Band of misfits. Image via Business Insider
Okay, so being negative about awards is fun. But I got that out of my system yesterday. So today, it is time to be nice.
Luckily, there is a lot to be nice about, because Emmy voters did a pretty good job this year. They didn’t do the best that they could have. On that note, can somebody please photoshop a picture of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer holding Emmys?
Anyway, if you look close enough at the nominations, you will see that this year’s lineup does as good a job as possible at reflecting the incredibly diverse array of programming that makes up the current golden age of television that we are living in.
For this, I have decided not to include shows like Game of Thrones, Louie, or Breaking Bad. While their inclusion makes me happy, their nominations were foregone conclusions. So instead, let’s focus on some of the people and shows that might not have expected to heard their names called yesterday morning: