Movies
This summer's biggest... no scratch that. This year's biggest box office success has now arrived on home video.
A little over a week ago the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival ended so what better time to ruminate on the good and the bad. And what better way to do so than create a "best and worst" list? (Sure, lists are reductive to the point of absurdity, they force an arbitrary ranking system, I usually come to regret them at some point, etc., etc.
In all the hubbub of the Toronto International Film Festival, sometimes it's easy to forget where you are. Amidst the wall of people crowding the streets, the buzz of foreign languages, and Hollywood celebrities emerging from black SUV's you might be at any major world film festival.
A teenage boy stares at his reflection in a fogged mirror shrouded in darkness. Moments later the same boy watches a train derail off a bridge. Then he is trapped in one of the train's cars as it fills with water. He impotently slams his hands against the ceiling in an attempt to free himself.
In 1965, the Indonesian military over-threw their government, allowing small time gangsters like Anwar Congo to rise in society. He was promoted from scalping movie tickets to leading a death squad that helped the military kill more than a million people, many of whom were alleged communists.
Turning fright into fortune can be a tricky task. The horror genre holiday window of Halloween is only open for a short period of time. Once its over people transition out their love for decorative corpses and make room for Kris Kringle and cookies.
San Diego Comic Con might be done for another summer but that doesn't mean the geeking out has to end also. Oh no true believers, the geeking out is far from over. Today citizens of Midgard were graced with the first full new trailer for Thor: The Dark World, and all the nine realms rejoiced.
It hasn't been easy to ignore the disapproval that has been brewing online since the Cannes debut of Only God Forgives, the new film from Drive collaborators Ryan Gosling and director Nicolas Winding Refn. People have gone so far as to call the film "one of the worst ever made".
If Jason Bourne didn't take himself so seriously, he would have fit in with the RED crew. If the Expendables worried more about stories and less about resurrecting dead careers, it would resemble the RED series.
I would much rather see Bruce Willis continue in the role of Frank Moses over John
McClain.
There's a reason "critically acclaimed horror film" sounds like a paradox. The genre suffers from poor production values and inept acting. Clichés cling to them like mange on a stray dog. Their success lies in their ability to capitalize on the most primal human instinct: fear of death.
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