Thinking of modern Hollywood, I'm reminded of Screwtape's advice to his nephew: "The way some of you young fiends talk, anyone would think it was our job to teach!" Only, of course, the devils' jobs are to befuddle; Hollywood has the much more wholesome duty of storytelling, which it's largely rejected in arrogant disgust to appoint … Continue reading Oscar Night and I Don’t Care
Movies
Thoughts on ‘The Incredible Hulk’
Past entries: -Iron Man Following the excellent Iron Man, we have The Incredible Hulk, which, in retrospect, is a bit of an odd ball in the Marvel Universe (and not just because star Edward Norton ended up being recast when the character returned for The Avengers). It has a darker, heavier tone than most of … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘The Incredible Hulk’
Thoughts on ‘Iron Man’
Well, with Avengers: Endgame on its way, it seems there will never be a better time to do a re-watch of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (actually, if anything, I’m getting a rather late start on this, considering I have over twenty films to get through!). Just so that it’s clear where I’m coming from, I … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Iron Man’
Thoughts on ‘Dr. No’
Since my household recently purchased a complete box set of the James Bond films, we’ve begun a total re-watch of the entire series. So, I’ll be giving my thoughts on each film in turn. First some background: I’m a long-time fan of the Bond films. I’ve seen all of them (except Quantum of Solace) at … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Dr. No’
Aquaman and Causation at The Everyman
That review I fisked last week sparked some thoughts in my mind about Progressivism and causation. The resulting essay appears today at The Everyman First it must be noted that Aquaman is a very successful film. As of this writing, it’s made 265 million dollars in the US and close to a billion worldwide (according to boxofficemojo.com)—and it’s … Continue reading Aquaman and Causation at The Everyman
An Aqua-Fisk
Last weekend I got out to see Aquaman. It was incredibly stupid and absolutely ridiculous in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed it a lot. Certainly, I much prefer over-the-top dumb-fun like this to self-consciously grim garbage like Man of Steel. Then I happened across this review which I thought was so off-point that … Continue reading An Aqua-Fisk
TCM Remembers 2018
It's that time of year again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ewT7_NrGwM
Sticking up for ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
So, a few days back, someone posted an attack on It's a Wonderful Life in the 'Boston Herald,' criticizing it, not only as a bad film, but as promoting socialism. It was a very poorly done piece, of the "make a bold claim, then support it with a sarcastic comment" variety, but since the point of view … Continue reading Sticking up for ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
It’s a Wonderful Life at Catholic Match
If anyone were to ask what I think the best movie ever made is (understanding there's objectively no such thing), I would probably say It's a Wonderful Life. I might do a piece going into why I think this, but in the meantime I get to give some idea of why in today's piece on Catholic Match. I … Continue reading It’s a Wonderful Life at Catholic Match
Yes, Virginia, ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas Movie
My latest piece is up at The Federalist, and it's all about the Christmas classic Die Hard and what makes it a Christmas movie. Since the question hinges on there being a difference between a Christmas movie proper and a movie set around Christmas, it seems that a Christmas movie proper is a film that has some … Continue reading Yes, Virginia, ‘Die Hard’ is a Christmas Movie
Serpent's Den 