November 2018 - Cinematic Insights

Ralph Breaks the Internet Review

(3.5 / 4)

Ralph Breaks the Internet ups the complexity of its metaphors and tackles complicated, heartfelt themes of friendship, resulting in a superior sequel.

After travelling to the Disney fansite Oh My Disney!, there is a scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet in which Vanellope comes face to face with the entire roster of Disney Princesses from Cinderella to Elsa. At one point during this exchange, Merida, the lead princess from Pixar’s Brave, stumbles onto the screen with her thick Scottish accent being incoherent to all around her. When Vanellope asks her fellow princesses what Merida has said, she is offhandedly told that Merida is a Pixar Disney Princess whom they never can understand and they all proceed to smile and nod towards her. While in the grand scheme of Ralph Breaks the Internet, this exchange is nothing more than a throwaway gag, it cleverly underscores how the two Disney-owned animation studios have historically been divided.

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Widows (2018) Review

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(3.5 / 4)

A twisted labyrinth of a heist thriller that will hijack your notions of the genre and throttle you with surprise after surprise.

After directing 2014’s Academy Award Best Picture winner, 12 Years a Slave, acclaimed director Steve McQueen could have followed up with virtually any type of film he so desired. Despite focusing on quiet, historical dramas in the past, McQueen has taken a surprising left turn with his decision to adapt an acclaimed but somewhat obscure 1980s British TV show about a group of widows who inherit their criminal husbands’ problems. At a glance, a more adult version of Ocean’s 8 appears to be an odd choice. Perhaps this is why the director presents a short intro video before the film where he reveals that Widows has been a passion project of his for some time and he is overjoyed to finally present it to the world. Ultimately, this passion is evident in the finely crafted end product, as it becomes evident that the surprising choice of a project is the perfect precursor for a consistently unpredictable ride, as McQueen has created a heist film unlike any other.

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Critical Divide: Why ‘House of Cards’ Season 6 is Collapsing for Many Viewers

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The 5 Key Reasons Audiences and Critics are Divided on the Final Season

Despite being made available almost two weeks ago now, there appears to still be quite a bit of chatter regarding the sixth and final season of Netflix’s flagship program House of Cards. When news first came out that Season 6 would have a reduced episode count and proceed without Kevin Spacey in the key role as former President Frank Underwood, many longtime fans were rightfully concerned about the quality of the show dipping. While it would be a mischaracterization to say that critics are head over heels for the latest season, they have collectively been more inclined to praise the merits of it, with the Metacritic score and Rotten Tomatoes score seeing an improvement from last year.

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Overlord (2018) Review

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(2.5 / 4)

Overlord is loaded with fun and gory B-movie thrills (with impressive cinematography and production design to boot), even if the film leaves little in the way of surprises.

Overlord, directed by Julius Avery, is an American War Horror film, and the mishmash of genres alone should clue the audience into what they can expect regarding the film’s audacious intentions. When the retro title card is displayed at the top of the film’s intro, it is clear that Overlord isn’t shy about its objective to evoke classic B-movie thrills, not unlike Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 double feature team up, Grindhouse. Unlike the exploitative low budget B-movies that served as the film’s inspiration, Overlord is paradoxically filled with impressive cinematography and eye-catching production design (thanks to a healthy dependence on practical effects).

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The Girl in the Spider’s Web Review

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(3 / 4)

Claire Foy’s vulnerably fierce performance and the film’s fast-paced action in a visually striking setting make for a worthwhile vehicle for the iconic Salander character, even if it doesn’t hold a candle to Fincher’s 2011 masterpiece.

The Girl in the Spider’s Web is (confusingly) the film adaptation of the fourth Millennium series novel as well a sequel to the 2011 U.S. version of the premiere novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. When the news first hit that Sony had decided to skip two of the books in the series and essentially wipe the board clean with a new director and a new cast, it was alarming for fans to say the least. Continue reading “The Girl in the Spider’s Web Review”

Should Hollywood Rely on the Power of the Reboot?

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3 Reasons Why Studios Should Reconsider Pressing the Reset Button for Waning Franchises.

On the surface, the recent success of Halloween(2018) appears to be another instance of Hollywood salvaging a once captivating franchise by rebooting and erasing everything save for the beloved premiere entry. The film’s resonance with audiences in the form of earning more revenue at the box office than any other sequel to the 1978 original (and at a cost-effective budget to boot) serves as evidence that rebooting past properties is one of the most potent storytelling tools in a movie studio’s arsenal. More and more film franchises are becoming reliant on this technique. Just this week we will see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series receive a “soft” reboot of sorts, as despite featuring the same characters from the American 2011 Fincher film, The Girl in the Spider’s Web will have all new actors and will skip the two sequels of the original story.

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The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Film Review

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(1.5 / 4)

Disney’s attempt at expanding on the mythology of the classic “Nutcracker” story is needlessly convoluted, with an overly familiar story that feels more like a big-budget holiday cash-grab than a creative re-imagination. Unlike the toy solider at the center of the story, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms never comes to life.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms follows in the footsteps of other edgy attempts from Disney to reinterpret beloved classics into original live-action versions. In an article I wrote earlier this week, I stated that Disney live-adaptations can fall into one of two categories – a straight retelling of a classic story or a creative expansion of the original. Apparently, I was wrong, as The Nutcracker manages not to fit into either category. It is essentially 2010’s Alice in Wonderland, repackaged with a blanket of fake snow and a Santa cap thrown on top for the holidays.

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