@curiosity-inc
Movie Curiosities: The Batman
March 6, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
The Batman is the epitome of a critic-proof movie. It’s been in production and post for the past two years, through a highly tumultuous and well-documented period of COVID delays and corporate fuckery. Furthermore, it’s only the latest entry in a franchise that’s been a global pop culture mainstay for nearly a century, and it stars an impressive roster of well-known talent. Everyone knows about this movie, and everyone knows whether or not they’re going to go see it. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: No Exit
February 28, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
In a recent blog entry, I discussed the state of 20th Century Fox in the months immediately prior to December 2017, when their impeding sale to Disney became public knowledge. More specifically, I noted that the studio greenlit a number of franchise films in the Autumn of that year, even when the films in question didn’t seem to need or want a franchise. Turns out that wasn’t limited just to franchise films. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The Worst Person in the World
February 27, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
What we’ve got here is a Drive My Car situation. I went to see this cute little foreign-language film with no prior knowledge about it, except that the film was a critically lauded Oscar nominee. And I came out of the theater with my head spinning, desperately trying to unpack all the myriad statements about the human condition that the film somehow packed into its runtime. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Kimi
February 26, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Kimi is a starring vehicle for Zoe Kravitz, an actor who’s been a supporting player in so many high-profile films and TV shows that it feels like she should be a bigger deal than she really is at this point. She’s working under the direction of Steven Soderbergh, such an eccentric and eclectic director that there’s no predicting how his next work will turn out. Though No Sudden Move — his previous effort at directing a crime thriller for HBO Max — turned out to be a tragically underappreciated and mispromoted jaw-dropper. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Big Bug
February 18, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
It’s Jean-Pierre Jeunet directing a dark comedy sci-fi satire for Netflix. Better buckle up and brace yourselves for some weapons-grade crazy, folks. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The Power of the Dog
February 16, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
With all due respect to the many wonderful films and performances that got shut out of the next Academy Awards, I can’t bring myself to get upset with any of the Oscar snubs this year. This is chiefly because — as I’ve already said multiple times — 2021 was an unrelenting clusterfuck in which everyone was in a mad rush to get their content out the door. Nobody got around to seeing everything noteworthy that came out last year, and every year-end list — with ZERO exceptions — had glaring omissions. It stands to reason that the Oscars would have its share of high-profile oversights as well. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Death on the Nile (2022)
February 15, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Any discussion of a 20th Century Studios picture must begin in December 2017, when news first broke that Disney was purchasing pretty much all of the once-mighty News Corporation conglomerate. It’s important to remember the particular month of December 2017, and the fact that the corporate execs higher up surely saw the writing on the wall before the rest of the world did. This is likely why, in their last few years of operation as one of the most dominant movie studios on the planet, 20th Century Fox commissioned franchises for movies that honestly didn’t need sequels. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Jackass Forever
February 9, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
In the past, I’ve said a great deal about how much I dislike reviewing “critic-proof” movies. You already know what you’re getting and you know whether or not you’re on board, so why waste anyone’s time with a review? Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities — Munich: The Edge of War
February 6, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
What we’ve got here is a work of historical fiction. Munich: The Edge of War is a narrative set against the backdrop of real events, involving actual historical figures. But the protagonists themselves and their stories are entirely fictional, though perfectly plausible. So let’s start with the facts. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: Drive My Car
February 1, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Looking at what’s in my local multiplex, I’m gravely disappointed. All we’ve got are obscure releases with crappy-to-middling reviews and high-grossing holdovers from December. I have to assume that studios and theaters are skittish about the Omicron mutation of COVID-19 (And who could blame them, really?), because that’s the only reason I can imagine for why the January doldrums are still a thing. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The House (2022)
January 19, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Ever since Disney gave us the first animated feature film, mainstream animation in film and TV has primarily been geared toward kid-friendly fare. Here in the West, at least — animation in Japan has a long and robust history across all genres and age groups (see: Hentai). But even here in the States, we’ve got such adult-oriented fare as Beavis and Butthead Do America, Team America: World Police, and South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, not to mention the relatively recent Hell and Back and Anomalisa. Read the rest of this entry →
Movie Curiosities: The 355
January 16, 2022 in Blogs, Curiosity Inc.
Back in May of 2018, news broke that Jessica Chastain was producing a new picture through her Freckle Films shingle. The 355 was her brainchild, conceived as a female-driven spy thriller with an international all-star cast. And who did Chastain select to write the script? Theresa Rebeck, whose most prominent screenwriting credits to date have been the 1996 adaptation of Harriet the Spy (yikes) and the 2004 Catwoman film with Halle Berry (fucking YIKES). Even worse, Chastain personally hand-picked Simon Kinberg to direct, co-write, and co-produce the picture. Read the rest of this entry →
