Reel Entropy

A less chaotic state: Star Wars

Posted on December 14, 2015 by reelentropy

This article has been written several times in several places, I’m just going to try to put it all in one place.

Star Wars is the single most influential movie of all time. Starting from a minute 40-theater release in May 1977, the film was so well-received that it forced its way not only into an international release, but international re-releases in ’78, ’79, ’81 and ’82. Altogether, the film turned an $11 million budget into a $775.4 million smash hit, almost doubling the box office record set by Jaws two years earlier. An instant classic in every sense of the word, there’s a myriad of things that just wouldn’t exist in Hollywood without this movie’s success.

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Posted in A less chaotic state | Tagged #20th Century Fox, #george lucas, #industrial light and magic, #lucasfilm, #marvel comics, #mcu, #return of the jedi, #skywalker sound, #star wars, #the empire strikes back, #the force awakens | Leave a comment

Movie about one of Hollywood’s best writers poorly written

Posted on December 10, 2015 by reelentropy

One really great thing this movie did was hire Louis C.K. and Alan Tudyk. More movies should do that. Photo courtesy Bleeker Street.

Trumbo can easily be reduced to one word, and that word is “ironic.”

The film tells the relatively true story of Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), a communist screenwriter who won two academy awards for Roman Holiday and The Brave One despite being blacklisted from Hollywood as a result of the red scare at the time. The film details his refusal to cooperate with Congress, his 11-month prison stint and his return to Hollywood work through the use of pseudonyms with King Brothers Productions. He eventually revealed that he had been working the entire time he was on the Hollywood blacklist in a move that invalidated it and eventually lead to its dissolution.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #alan tudyk, #bleeker street, #Breaking Bad, #bryan cranston, #louis ck, #trumbo | Leave a comment

Brooklyn is the worst thing a movie can be — boring

Posted on December 10, 2015 by reelentropy

Brooklyn has received rave reviews, and I have absolutely no idea why. It’s not a bad movie, it’s worse — it’s a bland movie.

Around 50 minutes into what is otherwise quite a snoozer comes a love scene between Lacey and Fiorello, not only an extremely passionate scene, but the only scene in Brooklyn with any kind of passion. Their sex isn’t as boring as they are, and good for them, but I’d prefer it for them to not be so boring. Photos courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Based on Colm Tóibín’s 2009 novel, the film is about Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman moving from Ireland to Brooklyn in search of a better life. While in the city, she deals with homesickness, but it eventually subsides when she meets a man, Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen).

However, she receives letter from home saying her young sister, Rose (Fiona Glascott) has died suddenly, and she returns to visit her grave and make sure her mother is all right. While there, she meets another man, Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson), who wants her to stay in Ireland, because apparently there are still people in this world who aren’t completely exhausted with love triangles.

I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #brooklyn, #domhnall gleeson, #emory cohen, #fox searchlight, #love triangle, #saoirse ronan, #snore | 4 Comments

Holiday flick too tame for a B movie

Posted on December 9, 2015 by reelentropy

There’s also an interesting, underplayed Christmas Carol theme, particularly in the Krampus’ first appearance, pictured below, and his last in this scene. In the first scene, he flies from rooftop to rooftop, rattling the chains he’s covered in, distinctly evoking Jacob Marley. In this last confrontation, he looms over Max and just kind of points at things, distinctly evoking the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Photos courtesy Universal Pictures.

From Jurassic World to Minions to Straight Outta Compton, Universal Pictures has been very nice this year, and it looks like the studio just found a small franchise in its stocking.

Krampus follows an unhappy extended family celebrating Christmas together. The main character, a young boy named Max (Emjay Anthony), is the only one who enters the film with his holiday spirit intact, though it is tested by his older sister, Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen), coming into herself and spending time with boys instead of him and his extended family’s financial troubles and general stupidity. After being mocked by his cousins for still believing the holidays could bring them together, Max tears up his letter to Santa and scatters it to the wind, cursing the holiday spirit and summoning the ancient Christmas demon, Krampus.

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Posted in Entropy | Tagged #b movie, #black friday, #christmas carol, #krampus, #most wonderful time of the year | Leave a comment

The Möbius strip: Krampus surprises, awards start rolling in

Posted on December 8, 2015 by reelentropy

As with last week, part two of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay took the crown with an unimpressive total — $18.9 million — but the real story is the surprising runner up, Krampus. The weekend’s only wide release was expected to settle for the no. 4 spot far behind Mockingjay, The Good Dinosaur and Creed with less than $10 million, but it stunned with $16.3 million. Good Dinosaur fell to no. 3 with $15.3 million, and Creed to no. 4 with $15 million- Box Office Mojo

With its surprising performance, thoughts turn to Krampus’ franchise potential- The Wrap

The Good Dinosaur was expected to compete with Mockingjay for the top spot, but instead was neck and neck with Creed and ended up at no. 3. The movie is suddenly looking like Pixar’s first ever financial misstep- Variety

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Posted in The Möbius strip | Tagged #african american film critics association, #alamo drafthouse, #angelina jolie, #blacklivesmatter, #boston society of film critics, #british independent film awards, #burnt, #by the sea, #carl weathers, #carol, #charlie sheen, #cnn, #concussion, #creed, #edward scissorhands, #ex machina, #gotham independent film awards, #jennifer lawrence, #joy, #krampus, #leonardo dicaprio, #los angeles film critic association, #mad max: fury road, #mockingjay, #msnbc, #national board of review, #Netflix, #new york film critic's circle, #nightcrawler, #our brand is crisis, #pixar, #quinten tarantino, #sandra bullock, #spotlight, #star wars, #straight outta compton, #the force awakens, #the good dinosaur, #the hateful eight, #the hunger games, #the martian, #the revenant, #tim burton, #washington dc area film critics association, #will smith, bradley cooper | Leave a comment

Reel Entropy

A less chaotic state: Star Wars

Movie about one of Hollywood’s best writers poorly written

Brooklyn is the worst thing a movie can be — boring

Holiday flick too tame for a B movie

The Möbius strip: Krampus surprises, awards start rolling in

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