Tag: Brie Larson

Movie Review: CAPTAIN MARVEL – the latest in the Marvel Studios juggernaut is enjoyable thanks to Brie Larson’s charm, but lightweight.

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie ReviewsLeave a comment

Carol Danvers, much like Tony Stark in 2008, was a comic book character largely unknown outside of the increasingly insular world of comic book readers, but thanks to her inclusion in the cinematic Marvel Universe, now over $1 billion worth of people know the name worldwide, bringing with it untold fame and riches for its Oscar-winning star, Brie Larson.  More importantly, the movie introduces Marvel’s first female headliner and positions the character as potentially the most powerful in the entire franchise.  Unfortunately, in today’s sociopolitical climate, the very notion has been met online with the kind of outraged-male bile all too common.  I’d have preferred not to put this kind of spin on my reviews, but it’s unavoidable.

Continue reading “Movie Review: CAPTAIN MARVEL – the latest in the Marvel Studios juggernaut is enjoyable thanks to Brie Larson’s charm, but lightweight.” →

Movie Review: ROOM – terrific performances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, but I needed less of the first half of the movie and more of the second.

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie ReviewsLeave a comment

The human mind is a complex thing.  Where it resides is the great unfathomable mystery, and is as much a debate for philosophy as it is for science.  We will one day fundamentally change as a species once customizable DNA becomes commonplace, something which, as a transhumanist, I welcome.  But the body in comparison to the mind is simple.  A biological vehicle piloted by the human mind, the real “us”, it’s no more than a complex Lego set.  But the mind is subject to very subjective stimuli, from an astonishing array of sensory input to organic chemistry.  No two people are alike inside, behind the everyday screen we put up, showing people what we want to see.  It’s perhaps the most fragile part of us, easy to damage, hard to repair.

Continue reading “Movie Review: ROOM – terrific performances from Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay, but I needed less of the first half of the movie and more of the second.” →

Movie Review: KONG: SKULL ISLAND – mostly enjoyable franchise reboot, but lack of strong characters don’t do the fantastic visuals any favours

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie ReviewsLeave a comment

I don’t know exactly how old I was when I saw the original King Kong, but I couldn’t have been any older than five.  I recall with reasonable vividness sitting in front of our black and white TV in the Springburn neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland, absolutely enthralled by the sheer spectacle, the charm, of the 1933 production that heralded a new era of moviemaking.  There is likely nobody in the western world who doesn’t know King Kong – even if they have never seen the original, Kong exists among the pantheon of famous movie monsters, along with Godzilla, Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees, Frankenstein, and Dracula, to name a few.  Kong has a place in our hearts because he reminds us as ourselves.  Possessed of a humanistic sense of justice and primal strength, Kong represents us – stripped of the daily bullshit and phoniness that we all succumb to, Kong is us laid bare, and mostly shat on by the kind of assholes we have to deal with now and then.  Too high and mighty an opinion for you?  Not a problem – Kong also works as a spectacle monster movie, even when the scripts are no good, the nature of the beast guarantees battles between colossal creatures to feed the eyes.

Continue reading “Movie Review: KONG: SKULL ISLAND – mostly enjoyable franchise reboot, but lack of strong characters don’t do the fantastic visuals any favours” →