// Category Archive for: Movies

We’re All Watching The Watchmen

By Danny R. Phillips

Many times when a book is foolishly adapted for the big screen, the story becomes changed, warped, rearranged, and in the process, the fans of the original work leave the theater saying to themselves, “What was that?!?” Luckily, for director Zach Snyder, the film version of the so-called “greatest graphic novel of all time” is not one of those times.
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From Maniac to Mother: Remembering Divine

By Eric Weber

Twenty-one years ago, on March 7, 1988, legendary comic performer Divine (a.k.a. Harris Glenn Milstead) passed away in his sleep from heart failure. It was on the eve of his debut performance on FOX television’s popular show, Married. . . with Children. Divine was at an exciting moment in his career as he was receiving terrific reviews for his dual role in the recently released Hairspray. At last he was getting the one thing he had always dreamt about: acceptance from his peers as a legitimate actor and performer. He was finally shedding the “drag queen” stigma and beginning to be appreciated and acknowledged as a true talent instead of a “transvestite” or freak. Sadly, and like so many other unique and talented performers, his life was cut short much too soon.
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The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Film Remakes, Part Three

By Michelle Patterson

Read Parts One and Two of this series.

Ahhh, it’s time to close the final chapter to the film remake saga. Such wonderful memories have been created in the past few months as a result of devotion to this glorious torture. Boring bears on the baseball field, terrible tweens taking on the Disney vault classics, and Nicolas Cage punching a series of women in the face—I can’t say that it’s been complete misery. The ability to admit when I’m wrong has never been something that I’ve shied away from; there is concrete proof that on rare occasion Hollywood can get it right when they take another crack at a story that has already been told. Ironically, this trilogy of articles ends on a bitter note right when it’s supposed to be time to laugh and adore one another.
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In Defense Of Harvey Dent

By Lisa Anderson

Okay—it’s all over, including the shouting. The late Heath Ledger won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor of 2008, after winning numerous other awards in the same category. I was rooting for someone else for Oscar, but I don’t begrudge Heath his award. That said, I don’t think that Heath made The Dark Knight what it was by himself.
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Commanding Cobra: An Interview With Cobra Commander

Interviewed by Megashaun

After recently finding a blog written by Cobra Commander in which he laments many of his boring day-to-day activities, I thought he would make an interesting interview subject. Getting in touch with him wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. The email address listed on his blog seemed to be to an unattended mailbox. My first attempt at communication with him went something like this:
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Not Your Mother’s Biopic: Gus Van Sant’s Milk

By Maureen

“My name is Harvey Milk, and I am here to recruit you.” At many of his public appearances, the late politician uttered these words. They’re also my words, because I am also here to recruit you . . . to see the film version of Milk’s life, directed by Gus Van Sant.
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The Heart Of Darkness: Comedy And Drama From The Coen Brothers

By Lisa Anderson

In 2008, Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country For Old Men took home Oscars for best film, direction, supporting actor, and adaptation, as well as numerous other awards and critical accolades. This year, their follow-up caper comedy, Burn After Reading, garnered Golden Globe, BAFTA, and WGA nominations, before being passed up altogether by Oscar.

Speaking as a critic and a film fan, I appreciate the craft that went into both movies, but vastly prefer the first to the second. On the surface, both seem to have the characteristic Coen worldview, where nothing that happens has any meaning beyond itself. A closer look, however, reveals that the denizens of No Country For Old Men at least try to bring meaning to their own lives, even if they ultimately fail.
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Popshifter‘s Best Of Lists

Pete Best

Most publications give you their “Best Of” and “Top Ten” lists in their December issues. But what about giving props to of all the great things you embraced in the penultimate month of the year?

That’s why Popshifter has decided to provide you with our favorites now, so that you can add them to your list of “Things To Check Out In 2009.”

In addition to the lists our staff compiled, we’ve also posted the lists from some very special guest contributors.

Enjoy!
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You Think You’ve Seen It All Except The Future*

Image from EquilibriumFans

John Preston: What’s the point of your existence?

Mary: To feel. ‘Cause you’ve never done it, you can never know it. But it’s as vital as breath. And without it, without love, without anger, without sorrow, breath is just a clock. . . ticking.

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The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Film Remakes, Part Two

By Michelle Patterson

Read Part One of this series here.

In the previous installment, I explained what separates the good film remakes from the bad and the ugly. There should be a lot of care taken to avoid any of the mistakes of the past, or in the case of a particularly artistic original film, one should not overdo what made that film so good in the first place. Bludgeoning the audience to get a message across won’t make them roll over like kittens and beg for their bellies to be scratched; it will leave them numb and confused, desperate to go home and crawl under the covers to make it all just go away.
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