When Pixar released Toy Story in 1995, they were able to capture our hearts and minds with one simple premise—What if all of our toys were sentient? Over the years, the franchise has explored themes of family, friendship, envy, love , loyalty, and did so without ever caring how or why the toys were alive. Whether intentional or not, the conceit of Toy Story 4‘s story—as well as a repeated gag throughout the film—establish new rules that seemingly govern all matter in the franchise universe.
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Does Rex Dangervest brick The Lego Movie universe?
In 'The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part', we're introduced to a new character (Rex Dangervest) who shows up early on in the story to help Emmet on his journey to save his friends. Emmet quickly begins to idolize Rex as he represents all the manly, heroic traits that he lacks himself. As a source of humor and meta-commentary on the career of Chris Pratt—who voices both characters—Rex is a welcome addition to the series. His backstory and arc throughout the film, however, introduce a huge problem into the world-building of the franchise. In my opinion, they kind of brick the universe.
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'Serenity' doesn't have a twist ending. At best the trailer is simply withholding information.
When reviews for 'Serenity' began dropping online, there was one common thread across every headline. Every single one exclaimed the ridiculousness of the films "twist ending". While I agree the film is ridiculous on the whole, it is consistently so and doesn't suddenly become the film it is at the end. The film telegraphs its reality so overtly from the [near] beginning, that you can't even call it foreshadowing anymore. To put it simply, there is no actual twist.
Read MoreBedphones: The perfect under-headphones-headphones
I'm no stranger to the lure of gimmicky products. Finding the perfect solution to a specific problem [that I didn't even know I had] is sort of my thing. So naturally, when I saw an ad for Bedphones — the headphones that "lie flat so you can too" — I was curious. Having spent a bit of time with them, I'm not certain that Bedphones succeed as the product they're marketed as. They are, however, the perfect headphones to wear under other headphones.
Read MoreWhich movie subscription service should you get?
For the first several years of it's existence, MoviePass remained the movie-going public's best-kept secret. A revolutionary service that would allow you to essentially see "unlimited" theatrical releases for one reasonable monthly fee. In the beginning the pricing structure was maybe a little cost-prohibitive for casual movie-goers, but as the price came down it quickly became unconscionable to NOT have a MoviePass account. They're no longer the only game in town though. We already have two competing movie subscription services with a third rolling out in beta now. If you haven't hopped on the bandwagon yet, there's no better time than now. The question is, which movie subscription service should you get?
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The truth about the ending of 'The Shape of Water'
The Shape of Water is a beautiful film and I hope that its Best Picture win will encourage more people to seek it out. Back when we reviewed the film for The Spoiler Warning Podcast, I stated what I thought were obvious observations about the ending of the film. Mainly that the character of Giles paints a fairytale end with his narration to obscure the true tragedy of the films narrative. I was quite surprised with the pushback I received for my reading of the film. Having revisited the film, I felt inspired to collect my arguments here. Obviously, spoilers to follow.
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My 10 Favorite Films of 2015
The following is a list of my 10 favorite films of 2015. These aren't necessarily "the best" films that came out last year and I can't claim to have seen everything that was released (I believe my final count was around 62). These are, however, the films that spoke to me the most.
Read MoreMy first week with MoviePass
If I told you I had a way for you to catch every single new release, in the theater, for only $30 a month, what would you say? Does that sound too good to be true? Fortunately, the good folks over at MoviePass.com are making this seemingly impossible feat a reality. I’ve been using the service for just over a week now and it works beautifully...
Read MoreDreams, awareness, and the illusion of control within them
Every once in a while, I hear somebody claim that they can control their dreams, or that they've been able to do it before. Because experience is so hard to argue with, I've always just sort of taken them at their word and thought, "that's really interesting, I wonder what it would be like". Last night, however, I experienced it for myself. The amazing thing is, the experience didn't reinforce the stories I'd heard, it simply begged the question whether control within dreams is merely an illusion.
Read MoreAn alternate interpretation to the ending of Source Code
Warning: This post contains spoilers for the ending of Source Code. Since it’s release, I’ve listen to several different reviews of Source Code. Positive or negative, most reviewers seem to fixate on a specific aspect of the films’ ending. In the climactic scene Colleen Goodwin sends Colter Stevens back through the Source Code one last time, severs Stevens connection with the machine, and allows him to live out the rest of his life as Sean Fentress in the world in which he stops the bomb from ever exploding. In the last 2 minutes of the film, we then discover that in every trip Stevens took, an alternate reality was actually being created. What I’ve found is that most reviewers seem to share the common belief that Colter Stevens is killing Sean Fentress by taking his place in this alternate reality. I, however, see things a little bit differently...
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