@curiosity-inc
Movie Curiosities — Dune: Part Two
March 3, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
As with my review of the first entry, I will not hold back with spoilers. The book is six decades old, it’s been widely and rightfully lauded as one of the all-time great science fiction novels, and it’s already been adapted twice. If you don’t already know the story and/or if you haven’t read the book, tough shit. If you want to know how the film would look from a newcomer’s perspective, I can’t help you. I can only say with all due respect that there is truly no substitute for the source material, so read the damn book already.
All that aside, let’s continue. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Drive-Away Dolls
February 27, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
In decades past, Ethan Coen has primarily come to fame through collaborations with his brother Joel. This time, Coen put a film together with his wife Tricia Cooke, who co-wrote and co-produced the film while also serving as editor. I hasten to add that while Cooke and Coen are spouses and co-parents, Cooke has self-identified as lesbian since before they met. I’m not going to ask how that works, it’s really none of my business, but it did all kinds of favors for this picture. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Hundreds of Beavers
February 25, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Earlier this month, Richard Plaud came to international renown for building and completing the world’s largest matchstick structure. He spent eight years assembling a 23-foot tall model of the Eiffel Tower, using 700,000 matchsticks. However, the award came with some controversy, as the matchsticks weren’t “commercially available”. Though he did buy the matches fair and square, Guinness initially thought it didn’t count because the matchsticks had been modified for the task. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Madame Web
February 21, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
I’ve been saying for years that Sony’s attempts at a shared Spider-Man cinematic universe without Spider-Man was a blatantly stupid idea doomed to fail. I’ve said repeatedly that if Sony keeps on churning out Spider-Man-adjacent films in perpetuity without regard for quality, profit, or anything other than keeping hold of the rights out of pure spite, they’ll go the way of 20th Century Fox before them. Well, it looks like the bill has finally come due. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Lisa Frankenstein
February 10, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
A few years ago, I wrote — and later produced — a female-driven adaptation of “Jekyll and Hyde”. In the process of writing, I took a draft to an esteemed colleague and she suggested I lean harder into the “mad scientist” trope. I didn’t fully understand the note, but I gave it a try and let my Professor Jekyll rant about how she’s pushing boundaries and taking risks while all her bold new ideas get shot down by small-minded men with tenure and I swear I could literally hear a light bulb click on in my head. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Argylle
February 4, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
For those just tuning in, I fucking hate Pan. I hate it with a passion. I hate it with a fury. I hate it with a vengeance. To this day, I still hate it more than any other movie I’ve ever reviewed. Say what you will about The Flash (and I’ve said more than my share on record), but even that movie wasn’t as lazy, stupid, ugly, nonsensical, and custom-built to shit all over the source material and those who love it. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: I.S.S.
January 31, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
By any reasonable metric, the International Space Station is truly one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments. A triumph of human engineering and astrophysics, bridging what could potentially be the most acrimonious and potentially apocalyptic rivalry in the history of international politics (except maybe India/Pakistan). Ever since the station was first launched in 1998, it’s been kept aloft with 25 years’ worth of continuous money and manpower, returning that investment with goodwill between nations and a library of scientific discoveries far too long to be recounted here. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The Beekeeper
January 23, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
I don’t like David Ayer. His movies consistently portray a worldview in which “evil” can only be defeated by “bad”. “Good” is naive at best and useless at worst. There is no place for hope or morals in a David Ayer picture. He’s cynical to an extent that I find personally abhorrent. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The Zone of Interest
January 21, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
The Zone of Interest is a recent arthouse darling that comes to us from writer/director Jonathan Glazer (late of such arthouse mind-benders as Sexy Beast and Under the Skin), very loosely adapting the book from Martin Amis. Though the film was a USA/UK/Polish joint production, it’s a German-language film about Nazis. Strap in. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities — 2023: The Wild Rides
January 11, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
My favorite list of the year, about my favorite films of the year. These are the films that made me laugh, made me cheer, made me just plain happy to be a cinephile. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities — 2023: The Disappointments
January 10, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
For those just tuning in, I don’t do “Worst of” lists. This year, I didn’t waste my time on the likes of Ghosted, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Heart of Stone, Love Again, or Children of the Corn (2023). As a general rule, I try not to waste my time on movies that I know are going to be awful. For anything to get my attention, there has to be some kind of potential that it will turn out to be worthwhile or at least underrated. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities — 2023: The Masterpieces
January 9, 2024 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Here we look back at my choices for the greatest films of 2023. As a reminder, I’m always careful to make a distinction between “greatest film” and “favorite film”. For instance, I’d argue that Women Talking is a legitimately great movie, but nobody is putting that on to show their friends a good time. So here we have my choices that did the most to advance the medium of cinema as a whole, that most deserve to be taught in film classes and discussed by professional film critics.
Read the rest of this entry →
