Author Archives: reelentropy

‘Brightburn’ soft on satire, complex take on family disfunction

Posted on May 30, 2019 by reelentropy

6/10 Brightburn is a minimalist, almost frustratingly simple film. That’s what might be disappointing about it, and it’s also what might be great about it. In Brightburn County, Kansas, Tori and Kyle Breyer (Elizabeth Banks and David Denman) struggle to conceive a … Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #elizabeth banks, #mcu, #suicide squad, Brightburn, David Denman, DCEU, Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn | Leave a comment

Reely understanding ‘John Wick’ and parallels with Roman mythology

Posted on May 27, 2019 by reelentropy

One of my favorite things about John Wick: Chapter 2, and one of the most illustrative ways in which John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum represents a slight step down, is how well it sews mythology into its narrative. Chapter 2, and by extension the original John … Continue reading →

Posted in Reel understanding | Tagged #john wick, #keanu reeves, Dante's Inferno, Don Quixote, Heracles, Hercules, John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Odesseus, The Odyssey, Ulysses, Vasilisa the Beautiful | 3 Comments

‘Aladdin’ is one of the worst movies I have ever seen

Posted on May 25, 2019 by reelentropy

2/10 As Disney plumbs ever deeper into its vault of classic- and renaissance-era features to remake live — or, “live” — it will inevitably begin to withdraw properties that will take more effort to translate into live-action or that make … Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #alice in wonderland, #cinderella, #Disney, #guy ritchie, #snow white and the huntsman, #will smith, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, in west Philadelphia born and raised, maleficent, Marwan Kenzari, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott | 1 Comment

‘Parabellum’ step down for story, step up for franchise

Posted on May 21, 2019 by reelentropy

8/10 John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is absolutely everything you’ve ever wanted out of an action movie. It is a pants-on-head insane celebration of stunts and choreography, an asylum of guns, knives, gothic noir landscapes, hounds of hell, classical literature, blood … Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #john wick, #keanu reeves, #mad max: fury road, Chad Stahelski, John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, John Wick: Chapter 4, Mission: Impossible -- Fallout | Leave a comment

Visually creative ‘Tolkien’ failed by fundamentally poor storytelling

Posted on May 16, 2019 by reelentropy

3/10 With the rate at which boring, inaccurate and horrendously bad biopics win awards, Tolkien could easily have been a formulaic Oscar grab. Instead, the creative team has gone in a different, much more ambitious direction, trying to recreate the … Continue reading →

Posted in Entropy | Tagged #Disney, #lord of the rings, #nicholas hoult, #peter jackson, #the departed, Do we have a fucking problem?, Dome Karukoski, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Lily Collins, The Godfather, Tolkien | Leave a comment