[Caution: Here there be spoilers.] How is Episode VII? After asking only a few episodes ago whether Star Wars had “gone to the Dark Side” we decided we needed to follow up once we’d seen the movie….
A long time ago, and in a galaxy far, far away… Luke and his band of rebels became cinema and cultural legends. And forty years later, they are coming back to the big screen. Is…
Has Disney Sold Out? – Episode 051
- October 15, 2015
- Tagged as: cinderella, frozen, king kong, maleficent, prometheus, star wars, stonewall, tangled, the lion king, the muppets
Disney is re-releasing many of its animated films as live action. They are investing in sequels and franchises to what many think is a startling degree. So, has Disney lost its magic? Have they sold…
Why are so many sequels so much worse than the original? Why do they retread the same group? Brent and Erik visit (revisit?) sequels and look at the “rules” that make the great ones great. Your Hosts…
Between 1997 (when the first Harry Potter book came out) and 2011 (when the last movie was released) Potter-mania swept the globe. How have the books and movies held up when they are no longer in…
Has CGI ruined movies? – Episode 031
- March 11, 2015
- Tagged as: alien, angel heart, beauty and the beast, beowulf, charlie and the chocolate factory, chef, chronicle, cloverfield, deep blue sea, dragonslayer, game of thrones, jaws, marvel's agent carter, star wars, the adventures of tintin, the hobbit, the lord of the rings, the polar express, titanic, willy wonka and the chocolate factory
Computer generated images are in almost every major studio movie, especially the upcoming summer blockbuster season. Has it gone too far and stifled creativity? Or has CGI actually unleashed it? Your Hosts Brent Hartinger Erik Hanberg Links…
Especially after Tony Soprano, TV feels like it is full of stories about anti-heroes. How has their portrayal changed? And why are we so drawn to them? Brent and Erik explore. Your Hosts Brent Hartinger Erik Hanberg Links…
Fan fiction is prevalent on the Internet, and some pieces—like Fifty Shades of Grey, Death Comes to Pemberley, and Amazon’s Kindle World program—have shown that there might be commercial success for certain projects. So is…
Why is Raiders of the Lost Ark So Good? – Episode 006
- June 25, 2014
- Tagged as: a star is born, bound, cloud atlas, dia hard, indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull, indiana jones and the temple of doom, indiana jones at the last crusade, mission impossible: ghost protocol, noah, north by northwest, pompeii, psycho, raiders of the lost ark, star wars, super 8, the french connection, the matrix, upside down
Why is Raiders of the Lost Ark so good? And why are some of the Indiana Jones sequels so bad? We look at the story, character, and plot that all align to make Raiders such a classic film…