Movie Review: "Jack the Giant Slayer"/"Oz: The Great & Powerful"

 If you had told me that a 2010 movie by Tim Burton would be one of the most influential forces of the next few years of cinema, I never would've believed you. Burton had long past the point of predictability, just about everyone was sick of his schtick, and I was sure he had nowhere to go but down. But for whatever reason, Alice in Wonderland was a massive hit, so massive that ever since then making darker, action fantasy versions classic fairy tales have been in high demand in the industry. In the last two weeks, two such films have come out, so we're going to take a look at them both.

The Lunatic Fringe: Sexism in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters?

Josh puts WAY too much thought into a movie about fighting two-headed witches.

Movie Review: Beautiful Creatures

I'm reluctant to use the term "Anti-Twilight" because it has become such a cliche. It's the nature of pop culture phenomenons that we inevitably spend a few years comparing everything to them. The Hunger Games is the Anti-Twilight because Katniss is a good role model. True Blood is the Anti-Twilight because it has "real" (read: more traditional) vampires. Warm Bodies is the Anti-Twilight because it's...you know, good. But I can think of no other apt name to describe Beautiful Creatures, as "The Anti-Twilight" it what it has very intentionally set out to be in the same way that The Golden Compass set out to be the Anti-Narnia.

Movie Review: "Movie 43" & "Hansel & Gretal: Witch Hunters"

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Movie Review: Texas Chainsaw 3D

So here's a shocker for ya: It ain't that bad.

Joe and Josh discuss Voice Acting and the Oscars

Me and the awesome Joey Tedesco, one of my colleagues from the Agony Booth & host of Cartoon Palooza, sat down at MAGfest to have a little discussion about voice actors & how underappreciated they are in the film industry. I hope were can do a little more of a formal review together someday to expand upon this topic. Honestly, the fact that animation still isn't properly respected, at least here in the US, as a filmmaking technique is fascinating to me, and there's so much more to say about it.

My Top 10 Films of 2012

Well, here we are. No sooner have I finished ranting against the entire concept of needlessly ranking vastly different movies into inherently devaluing lists, and I'm already contradicting myself in the name of conformity. Ah well, the more things change, eh?

Fortunately there's still a part of me that loves making lists in spite of my own musings. It's fun to collect and connect things you love, and the inevitably absurd arguments over insignificant details like the numbering have their own charm within reason. I suppose I could avoid all that and make a "Top 10 Movies of 2012 In No Particular Order", but that would ruin the inexplicable glee I get from sorting them based on arbitrary criteria (and no, I won't tell you what criteria).

So here we go...