Box Office Brawl II

If you didn't see Scott Pilgrim, you should be punched in the face.

It is said that every cloud has a silver lining. Apparently when it comes to film this is true, or at least, now it is. As previously mentioned in the original “Box Office Brawl” post, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World has been tanking in the numbers category (several possible theories as to why this is the case, and why anyone should care about this particular film were discussed. I suggest checking it out if you wish to know why I think this film deserves more recognition in the financial department than it is currently receiving). The miserable part is just how bad it is doing. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World managed to clock in at a measly $2.46 million this week. 

A True Gift: A Review of Spirited Away

Mr. Miyazaki. Yeah. 

Director Hiyao Miyazaki, as you may know is a genius. Actually, you probably don’t know that. While he is considered the “Walt Disney of Japan” and has created many classic, box office smashing animated films (Spirited Away holds the record as highest-grossing film ever released in Japan after beating out it’s predecessor Princess Mononoke and by 2002 nearly one sixth of the population had seen it), Miyazaki has not received as much recognition in the US as he deserves. Spirited Away is proof that both Miyazaki’s creations and anime must be taken seriously and embraced to a greater extent than they are currently. This beautiful retelling of the traditional coming-of-age tale maintains the ability to touch people both young and old and give each individual something to take away from it. 

The focus in the story is specifically on the ten year old girl Chihiro. She’s a nervous little thing at first, always scared and timid and sullen. When her parents inform her that they are moving away from their old town to a different neighborhood, Chihiro whines about the prospect of adjusting to a new life outside of what she’s already known. Chihiro is similarly glum when her parents spot what appears to be an abandoned amusement park and decide to explore the area. Little do they know, this so called amusement park is actually a bathhouse for spirits, and Chihiro’s parents are turned into pigs. 

College: brb

Hello scholars and learned people!

We hope to be just like you, so we all went to college. 

Yes, it is that time of year, where every good little boy and good little girl goes off to school.

All of us will be moved in sometime during this week or so, so the super hectic, eclectic schedules of all of us hinder our ability to write up good, worthwhile posts (unlike this one...). Things have been slowing down here for a few days, and it will come to a near standstill in the next few, so I thought I would inform you on why things are plodding along here.

We apologize for this brief "hiatus" (as in, like, a couple of days, so not too long), and thank all of you viewers for faithfully following us!

Also, please spread word of this blog around! We appreciate all of you, and we would like to see this blog continue to grow in viewership! (We also like making money, so... check out our astore!)

Anyway, we will be back in a few days, and once life gets back to normal, we will put up some good stuff! Thank you for your patience. 

In the meantime, check out reviews of films, actor profiles, upcoming films, our Oscar season news, our movies that should be made ideas, and so much more!

Wish us luck as life changes for all of us, and we settle in to college living!

Geronimo!

~Peter

Open Thread: College Edition

Hello y'all!

Hopefully not my dorm...

Another week, another Open Thread.

You know the drill.

Share your ideas, reviews, life stories, whathaveyou on this thread.

In Case You've Missed It:

Join in a super-random debate on space heroes Han Solo and Malcolm Reynolds.

Don't forget to check out the two Iron Man 2 reviews by Joseph and Nate, and also be sure to look at Ben's Top 10 Films of the Decade.

Be thankful the summer movie lineup is over with, too. Check out the "starter kit" to the 2011 Oscar Season!

2011 Oscar Watch! 24 Films to Keep Tabs On

As September starts up, school commences once again, and another season comes to an end. The Season of the Mediocre Summer Blockbuster: 2010 Edition. Finally, it’s over! Now begins the new fall lineup and movies of “high merit” or in other words: Oscar Season is upon us!

That's unfortunate. Seriously!
Look what he's wearing!
Overalls are sooooo yesterday.

Sure there were a few good films on the summer roster. Films such as Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Inception come to mind, but let’s be honest, with the majority of films being sequels, reboots, and remakes, the summer lineup got mundane and rather repetitively uninspiring. Not so with this year’s upcoming fall films lineup. To be fair, there will be some movies that just should never have been made: Saw 7 Bazzilion (THIS TIME IN 3D!!!!!!! /eternal facepalm), Resident Evil: Whatever, and the usual Halloween teens-do-it-then-die gambit, along with family oriented films such as Megamind, Dawn Treader, and Tron: Legacy (aka LightBike). However, the next 24 films are sure to garner (at the very least) Oscar buzz, be it as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best, well, you get the point. Let’s go!

Not Exactly Iron Clad: A Review of Iron Man 2

Samuel L. Jackson still has his eye on you. 

Spiderman still stinks.

The sequel to the film Iron Man breaks a trend in the cinematic superhero genre. Normally, the first entry in a trilogy of this sort is not quite as strong as it’s successor. This is largely due to the filmmaker being required to tell that superhero’s origin story to set up the background, which although interesting, often limits the possible storytelling abilities. Examples of this trend are the Spiderman series and to a much greater extent Chris Nolan’s Batman series. Iron Man 2, it would seem, is an exception to this rule. It was as if Iron Man 2 was trying to live up to the superior original, but the sloppy second lost the energy to do so somewhere down the line. Part of the reason for this may be that in Iron Man’s case his origin, unlike other superheroes, is arguably his most compelling story. Iron Man’s original movie (2008) had a more political bent, and while it was not exactly the greatest intellectually stimulating creation ever made, it at least sparked some thought on issues involving technology, terrorism, war, and economics (oh, and it also had Jeff Bridges, which is never a bad thing).