Written By: Dan Geer
In the last couple of decades, it has become increasingly apparent that there has been a paradigm shift in terms of how audiences watch and enjoy movies. While film criticism has been around for as long as I can remember, it seems as if your average modern-day cinephiles have become more critical than ever, and as a result have enjoyed films much less in the last couple of decades than they did in the decades prior. What went wrong?
Written By: Dan Geer
Dear Chris Carter,
As someone who has been a huge fan of The X-Files since 1993, grew up with it and never gave up on it when we all thought it would never return (whether it’d be a third feature film or on television) – I would like to thank you for working so hard to bring back this iconic series with Season 10 earlier this year. The eight-year wait between The X-Files: I Want to Believe and this latest season was almost unbearable, but it was well worth it.
I also would like to take the time to bring to the forefront something that has been weighing on me heavily in the last few months since the series returned.
Update provided after the jump…
Written By: Dan Geer
Last year around this time, I wrote an article designed to help keep one’s expectations for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in check. After all, it was probably the most anticipated Star Wars movie since 1999’s The Phantom Menace, and we all know how expectations definitely played a part in our enjoyment of that movie. Even though Episode I has flaws, one has to admit that our expectations for that movie back in 1999 were so high that the film didn’t stand a chance – even if it was great (pssst… I liked the movie, but agree that it has some shortcomings). The Force Awakens, thankfully didn’t suffer nearly as brutal of a beating (and it was a better movie overall).
My article probably didn’t have a huge impact on setting expectations, but I like knowing that it was out there and that maybe even just one person read it and enjoyed The Force Awakens more because of it. Therefore, it seemed only fitting that I uphold the tradition and compose a similar article for “the next Star Wars movie” – which really isn’t what we all think of when we frame it like that. When people used to say this, it meant the next episode in the saga. That is clearly not the case this time, and with that it means that we really need to go into this one with a clean slate for the most part, and rethink what we should be expecting for the first standalone movie in the franchise.
Written By: Brandon Engel
Sci-Fi fans are forever wishing for their favorite fiction technology and gadgets to become reality, and none more so than Star Wars fans. While lightsabers are unfortunately still firmly ensconced in the fictional side of that universe, there are several examples of Star Wars technology which have become or are in the process of becoming a reality. From the original trilogy to the extended universe and beyond, there are plenty of opportunities to find examples of fictional technology inspiring real life technology.
When fans were first introduced to the universe in 1977, such things as artificial intelligence, communicating robots and self-driving cars were either very rudimentary or pure fantasy – but today we have Apple’s Siri and Tesla’s driverless cars. In honor of The Force Awakens in the canon and of science fiction becoming science fact, the following are just some of the fun gadgets found in the Star Wars universe that have since become part of our very real lives.
Source: Matty Granger Facebook | The Huffington Post | Posted By: Dan Geer
So it has been a few weeks since J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters and broke just about every box office record known to mankind. Reviews have been very positive overall. However, the pendulum has started to sway the other way a little bit, with some reviews even pointing out supposed plot holes or flaws in the film. One such article from The Huffington Post, titled “40 Unforgivable Plot Holes in Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” attempts to lay out extensively just how flawed the film allegedly is, and many people have re-posted this article time and time again, commenting on how they actually agree with the article.
I was going to write a rebuttal on this, but a man by the name of Matty Granger (The Granger Brothers) beat me to the punch and posted one himself, addressing (in “colorful” language, mind you) each and every point laid out by The Huffington Post’s Seth Abramson. The article not only easily refutes these “plot holes” for the most part, but also agrees very much with the reason PopcornMonster.com was started in the first place, which is to get people to think twice when it comes to film. To quote Granger, “…sadly all it takes is a bold, contrarian statement to convince people who aren’t interested in doing research for themselves that something wildly incorrect is truth.”
Click here for the Huffington Post article, then read Granger’s amusing rebuttal here. When you’re done, read below for a few more points that I personally address about the film that aren’t brought up in either article, but have been also debated at length in various fanboy circles. Just my lengthy attempt to help people enjoy the film as much as I do (possible spoilers ahead)…
Written By: Dan Geer
When Guillermo del Toro left the director’s chair on The Hobbit trilogy, Peter Jackson stepped up and took the reins once again for Middle Earth and decided to direct. This posed a huge problem for Jackson and his team of designers and writers, and put a tremendous amount of pressure on everyone because Jackson’s vision differed greatly from del Toro’s. They basically had to redesign the films all over again, essentially throwing out a year and a half’s work of pre-production time out the window. What this meant for Jackson was that he was not able to have that same amount of prep time for his version of the films, and the vast majority of the time he had to wing it on set.
Now that the Extended Edition of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has finally been released, one of the special features on this release chronicles what it was like for the director, as well as the designers and writers to go through this trial of getting these films completed in light of what happened. A segment of the video has gone viral, with many movie sites claiming this is Jackson owning up to the reason why The Hobbit films were supposedly “a mess.”
I argue the exact opposite. Watch the video below first, and then we’ll dive in!
Written By: Dan Geer
So, after three years of waiting (or three decades for many), Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens is finally hitting theaters this December. EPISODE VII!!!!! The SEQUEL to Return of the Jedi! The expectations surrounding this film are unprecedented. Not since the hype leading up to Episode I back in the late 90s has Star Wars fandom been at this level of excitement. For many, The Force Awakens means that they may finally get everything they ever wanted in a new Star Wars film after not having gotten their wish with the prequels. For others, it simply means they’re getting yet another movie (followed by many more) in a franchise they’ve never stopped loving.
Whatever the case, while the hype machine has been toned down drastically compared to that of The Phantom Menace in terms of marketing (I think Lucasfilm learned their lesson there), the expectations are still at a fever pitch. There really needs to be some damage control ahead of time if we’re to appreciate The Force Awakens as a Star Wars film, as well as on its own merits.
Let’s call ourselves what we are: Star Wars fans are insane. Loveable, to be sure, but insane nonetheless. We need to take a few steps back and keep this insanity in check. It all starts and ends with expectation.
Written By: Brandon Engel
Because their stories exist within the realm of imagination, sci-fi and fantasy movies allow directors to explore their creativity to the fullest. The future can be anything they imagine it to be.
Most of us are familiar with the works of Ridley Scott (Alien), James Cameron (The Terminator) and other visionary film directors. But they all owe a large debt to one of the true auteurs of the genre, German expressionist director Fritz Lang. Combining an enticing aesthetic sensibility with bold and mostly accurate predictions about the future, Lang’s films achieved widespread critical acclaim and are still widely studied and enjoyed by film aficionados to this day.
Source: EW | Posted By: Dan Geer
For fans of The X-Files, The Lone Gunmen were absolute fan favorites. Everyone loved them. They were funny, geeky, smart, paranoid, and always able to get Mulder and Scully out of a pickle. They debuted in the latter half of Season One, and were with the show until the very end. They even had a short-lived spinoff series of their own for a season, but it was unfortunately canceled. Soon after, in the final season of The X-Files, there story came to a close… or so we thought!
EW is reporting that actor Dean Haglund, “Langly” of The Lone Gunmen, has revealed via Twitter than they are indeed returning for the new series next year. Read on to find out more on the return of The Lone Gunmen in The X-Files revival series!
Written by: Brandon Engel
By definition, clones are exact genetic replicas of an original organism. It can happen one of two ways: naturally, as in with identical twins or engineered in a controlled laboratory setting. Hollywood and pop culture tend to prefer the latter, whether human or animal, and generally relies on science fiction rather than scientific fact.
The concept of genetic manipulation in film and television go way back such as in Sleeper (1973) and The Boys From Brazil (1978) but recent examples have also made their way into our current culture. Jurassic World explores the consequences of bringing back an extinct species while Orphan Black delves into the complex world of human cloning. As fascinating as it is, the process of genetic engineering is often portrayed negatively, as with “evil twin” tropes seen everywhere on television.
