TV Recap: WRESTLEMANIA XXXI (Partial)

NOTE: Do you like this piece? Want to see more like it? Please consider a contribution to The MovieBob Patreon.Did one of these for the old outlet a year ago, figured I might as well put a new one up here and see how the reaction goes. Almost didn't, because the "venue" I chose to watch the show wound up not actually putting it on the main screen until almost an hour in because a prior sports-event tied and ran long, but I saw what seemed to be the "big" matches so I'm going for it. I feel like there's a pretty solid crossover between Wrestling fandom and the rest of geek culture, but I also feel like it ought to be even moreso. Anyway, we'll see.PROL

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Really That Good: GHOSTBUSTERS

NOTE: Sony has released the copyright claim against this episode. Good on them. The first episode ("pilot," if we're being honest) for my new project: REALLY THAT GOOD, a film essay series based on the radical idea that our most beloved movies probably became our most beloved movies for a good reason; and that just because "everyone" agrees a film is great doesn't mean it's not worthy of a serious second look:A lot of work has gone into this one, folks; and I'm pretty damn happy with how it came out especially for a first try. I hope you all enjoy it.

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TV Recap: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D - Season 2 Episode 14: "LOVE IN THE TIME OF HYDRA"

One reason it was rough going getting this up for Wednesday (hence why you're now getting it on Saturday)? This wasn't an especially strong episode, and it was hard to find anything useful to say about it other than to recap what happened.This an episode almost-exclusively about putting various characters into the positions they need to be in for a promised "explosive" storyline next week, buoyed by some character/relationship melodrama that was nice to see but would've worked better amid the support of a stronger overall setting. Upkeep-episodes are all well and good (and necessary, given that AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D is now clearly pacing itself with a

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Cinderella

Rating : 5/10Release Date : 20th March, 2015Time : 105 minutesDirector : Kenneth Branagh; Writer : Chris Weitz, based on the fairy story; Music : Patrick DoyleStarring : Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Derek Jacobi, Stellan Skarsgard, Nonso Anozie, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Chaplin, Sophie McShera, Holliday Grainger, Hayley AtwellThis one failed as a live action film for me – for being too straight-forward a retelling of the fairy tale, without any of the whacky characters, the double-meaning jokes, or the fantastic layers that usually accompany Disney / Pixar films This is simply the vanilla version of a classic. With quite a few girlie t

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Gunman / Run All Night

Rating : 5/10Release Date : 27th March, 2015Time : 115 minutesDirector : Pierre Morel; Writer : Don MacPherson, based on the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette; Music : Marco BeltramiStarring : Sean Penn, Jasmine Trinca, Javier Bardem, Ray Winstone, Idris Elba, Mark RylanceRating : 5/10Release Date : 27th March, 2015Time : 114 minutesDirector: Jaume Collet-Serra; Writer : Brad Ingelsby; Music : Junkie XLStarring : Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, Joel Kinnaman, Boyd Holbrook, Bruce McGill, Genesis Rodriguez, Vincent D’Onofrio, Common, Aubrey JosephTwo men try to protect loved ones. And themselves. From someone more powerful, in a position to do them great harm. A

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News & Such

Short version: Yes, you're still getting an AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D recap for this week (between tomorrow and Sunday) and I apologize for the delay. I could pin some of it on work (things are gathering steam, and I should have exceptionally good news for fans pretty soon) but it's not just that...The main fact of the matter is that some personal business (even the vaguest details of which are not public in any way yet, so don't bother looking) came to something of a head, which put some added delay onto my current workload. Since I'm not really ready to share anything about this on The Internet, I can only ask for patience and understanding in that

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Dronehood

Andrew Niccol's (GATTACA, IN TIME) GOOD KILL is being touted as the first major Hollywood war movie specifically "about" post-9/11 drone warfare, which one can (cynically) assume is coming out now because we're almost on to the next election and it's now that much less lightning-rod-y to criticize a war-fighting method that's seen (fairly or not) as belonging uniquely to the Obama Era rather than as a Bush/Cheney holdover.Ethan Hawke stars as an oldschool fighter pilot who, with the demand for his actual flight skills waning, reluctantly joins a squad of joystick-jockeys blowing up Taliban/Al-Qaeda/ISIS/etc (it's unclear what time period/enemy-cycle t

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In Dog We Trust

Below, the trailer for MAX, which answers the question "How do you make a story about an Afghan War veteran recovering from severe PTSD even more wrenching and instantly sympathetic?" as follows: "Well, what if he's also a dog?"Jesus.I've got a well-acknowledged "thing" for dog movies, and between this and WHITE GOD it feels like someone in the movie business might actually be trying to kill me. Just the idea of this is so instantly rough I can almost forgive the trailer essentially giving away it's own third act (a soldier who knew Max's Marine owner shows up, he's a bad guy up to bad-guy stuff, Max and teams up with the kids to fight them) - it

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TV Recap: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D - Season 2 Episode 13: "ONE OF US"

Do you like reviews like this? Consider contributing to The MovieBob Patreon and help keep them coming!I'm having a serious internal debate as to where to put the spoiler-warning on these things.The fact is, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D is now more-or-less "out of the closet" as to what corner of the Marvel Universe it's actually been most connected to all this time (or, at least, midway through Season 1) ...if you're watching it. If you're not, since the ads aren't really using a lot of the key terminology yet, it might still be a surprise for the binge-watching crowd. And while I'm not of the mindset that TV critics should neuter their reviews to cater to

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Adam Sandler *Literally* Kills Your Childhood in First PIXELS Trailer

Well. Here's the trailer for PIXELS, a movie based on a viral internet short that won a bunch of praise a few years back:The premise then? Earth gets attacked by old arcade game sprites in a clever showcase for pixel-block CGI effects. The premise now? Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage are former rival arcade high-score champs drafted by the President (Kevin James) to battle an army of of evil video-creatures brought to life by invading aliens. Josh Gad and Michelle Monahan are also onhand, for whatever reason.Chris Columbus directs, which means this is going to be Sandler in family-friendly mode, which I'm sure someone must enjoy since he keeps doing t

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THE UPDATED MOVIEBOB FAQ: 3/13/2015 EDITION

Below the jump, some overdue updates on where I'm at and when you'll start seeing my web presence kick up again. But first - Did you know you needed this in your life? Because you needed this in your life: I wonder how many people who're seeing this in 2015 even know/knew that DINOSAURS was a "thing?" Anyway...So. Haven't given a status update in a little while, mostly because we (meaning I) have been in holding-pattern mode for a bit. I don't have the kind of life, friends, colleagues, family or loved ones that would've let me sit around feeling bad for myself while "between jobs" (and I'm impossibly grateful to them for that) which means I've

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Surf Nutsy

Okay, so the premise to RIDE is pretty cute in a "pandering to the fantasies of an audience that almost never get's pandered to" sort of way: Helen Hunt is a wealthy-ish NYC helicopter-mom who, upon learning that her kid (Brandon Thwaites) has dropped out of college to pursue surfing, chases him down and resolves to hang around in the surf-culture herself until she can talk him out of it. Luke Wilson and David Zayas are also there, stuff is learned, dreamy/"soaring" indie-pop song, underlit photography and earthtone title-fonts so we know this is Smart Grownup Comedy, etc. Coming soon to a bookstore coffee-bar lunch discussion near you:Again, looks al

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TV Recap: AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D - Season 2 Episode 12: "WHO YOU REALLY ARE"

There was a moment in the second half of the first season of AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D when the show, decidedly mixed up to that point, seemed to "click" all at once into what it was truly meant to be - both in terms of quality and of narrative-threads beginning to realize their full potential. Without giving it away for the (still) spoiler-averse, it involved the reveal of an Agent's full backstory and agenda; and once it happened the series started aggressively moving and didn't let up until the season finale.It's now clear that last week's "Aftershocks," which dropped the show whole-hog into a new status quo with an entirely new purpose in the Marvel C

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Full TOMORROWLAND Trailer: Atlas, Hugged?

NOTE: Like this piece? Want to see more like it? Please consider a contribution to The MovieBob Patreon.There's a running sort-of joke/sort-of gripe in online film geek circles about Brad Bird being a secret Objectivist, mainly based on really, really cynical readings of THE INCREDIBLES (i.e. naturally-gifted superheroes versus a society that wants them to conform to averageness and a villain whose plan partly involves using technology to level the human/superhuman playing field). I'm not fully onboard with that reading of his career (THE IRON GIANT's philosophy is slightly to the left of Captain Nemo, for one thing) but it's interesting to consi

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Film Review: CHAPPIE (2015)

NOTE I: Sorry folks, PAXEast preparations means no video review for this one - at least not right away. Hope you enjoy this text-only version, all the same.NOTE II: Did you enjoy this piece? Please consider supporting The MovieBob Patreon.CHAPPIE is an ambitious, earnestly crafted film that's also profoundly flawed; in both respects to a degree that one will likely cancel the other depending on the individual viewer.It's a work cast in bold strokes, with every thematic and aesthetic element carried to the nearest extreme: The titular robotic hero is supposed to be "childlike," so he's realized as literally a titanium five year-old who cowers and

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"Welcome to Asia"

NOTE: Do you like this piece? Would you like to read more like it? Please consider supporting The MovieBob Patreon."Okay, here's the pitch.""I'm listening.""Cool. Cool. So, it's a movie...""Good, good. That's primarily what we make here.""Nice. So, it's a movie, but - here's the hook: It's SUPER racist.""...racist.""SUPER racist.""Hm. Can you clarify, 'super?' Like, on a scale of zero to Nugent?""Um... I guess, Nugent - but at a no-press-allowed CPAC fundraiser with those Duck guys?""Ah!""Yeah.""So... pretty darn racist.""Yes. Yes it is.""Hm........... ....... ... ...Well, shit - we DID just cross $470 million worldwide on 'Bradley Cooper Headshots Br

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