Kevin Chang Media 1 9/20/2018
DeadPool 2
The movie opens with a hilarious send-up of opening titles, the camera spinning through a time-stopped fight scene full of Easter eggs as mocking credits played out, and then proceeds to present a violent action scene of the sort that just hadn't been seen in the mainstream superhero genre before; as bloody as it was cartoonish. Then Deadpool shoves two swords into the final foe and addresses the audience saying "You're probably thinking, 'My boyfriend said this was a superhero movie but that guy in the red suit just turned that other guy into a fucking kebab'. Well, I may be super. But I'm no hero." The promise was of something far from your standard superhero movie, yet what follows is a pretty standard superhero movie; there's a power-turned-affliction, a damsel in distress (whatever Vanessa says otherwise), and only the R-rated trappings and carefully tuned fourth-wall breaks to distinguish it. DEADPOOL 2 DELIVERS ON THE ORIGINAL'S PROMISE Deadpool 2 could be described, in many ways, more of the same. Wade Wilson smashes the fourth wall as he tells a story lightly twisting familiar genre tropes (even those the writers weren't aware of), but what distinguishes it is a considerably greater sense of purpose. The sequel is so much of what many people expected from the first, but that it failed to deliver on. On a granular level, the specific jokes are stronger - Wolverine is speared more violently than X-24's tree impalement, the Marvel jokes aim deeper than acknowledging Thanos, and the DCEU's recent downturn is brutally addressed and its riffing on the framework of a superhero movie are actually novel; the X-
Men cameo is self-justifying, Brad Pitt pays off a painfully specific Interview With A Vampire reference, Matt Damon Dickie Greenleafs his way in, and Frozen gets one of its deepest critical analyses. The key here is that at no point in development does Deadpool 2 feel like it was held back by uncertainty or wariness on the part of the studio or filmmakers. After the first movie proved the brand, Deadpool can do anything (except, it seems, have Hugh Jackman cameo), and so everything is stepped up to a level where the irreverence is so utterly dominating the movie becomes semi-subversive by its near-blatant ignorance. To end with a full admittance that the X-Men timeline can never make sense and wholeheartedly embracing that is on a whole other level to allowing Colossus a bit-part. Article source: https://screenrant.com/deadpool-2-better-original-movie-why/2/
8 Reasons Why “Avengers: Infinity War” Is The Best Superhero Movie of All Time 12 May 2018
Features, Other Lists by Cara McWilliam-Richardson
Avengers: Infinity War is the greatest superhero film of all time – there is no doubt about it. And if you think that it isn’t then adolescent Groot has something to say about that – “I am Groot!” Sorry for that foul language but Groot has a point. Take a superhero film that combines everything that is great about the genre and then multiply it, and that is Infinity War. It is action-packed, it is emotional, it is funny and it has something for everyone. It is a pinnacle of filmmaking and cinema going in so many ways – it is the climax of a decade of films and the crowning moment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But it is also impressive in that it
takes CGI effects to another level, it has encouraged millions to see it on the big screen and it has an ensemble cast that any Hollywood studio would kill for. There are many, many reasons why Infinity War is the greatest superhero film of all time (imagine the scene where Doctor Strange creates dozens of multiple versions of himself – that’s the kind of number we’re talking about). This list looks at just a few of those reasons. And as with any appearance by Thor, you can expect lightning to appear – please expect spoilers to appear throughout this article
Media 1 Magazine Project
Wakanda to The World
WHAT SHOULD A superhero movie
be? What can it be? With Black Panther, we finally have an answer worthy of our time. As you can imagine, what emerges in the opening tints of Black Panther sets the stage for no ordinary undertaking. Here, the past and present are linked by a shared future. Writer-director Ryan Coogler, raised as he was in Northern California, stays close to home, dropping us in the reality of Oakland. The ensuing story splits along dueling ideologies. It picks up where Captain America: Civil War drew to a close, with T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) assuming control of his country’s fate in the wake of his father's death. For decades, Wakanda’s utopian spirit has thrived under the cloak of East Africa’s ethereal beauty, believing that if world powers discovered its technological and scientific ingenuity, the country would risk constant threat. Old-guard preservationists—among them, T’Challa's mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and Okoye (Danai Gurira), head of the king’s women-only security unit, Dora Milaje—believe the country must continue as it has for centuries, solely nurturing its own people. Others, like W’Kabi (Daniel Kaluuya) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), confidants to T’Challa, subscribe to a more pan-Africanist worldview, believing that Wakanda must use its might to remedy the world of evil. Nakia especially believes it is the country's duty to aid the less fortunate— be they refugees, poor kids in the US, or activists caught in the tempest of
protest against unjust state influence. The time comes when Wakanda can remain immune no longer, realizing that it too must yield to the cry of a changing world. A specter of change arrives in the form of Erik “Killmonger” Stevens (a villainous, power-drunk Michael B. Jordan); he’s a former Black Ops mercenary fueled by blood and vengeance for the death of this father, Prince N’Jobu. His price is T’Challa’s throne and sovereignty over the nation. Killmonger, who finds an ally in W’Kabi, seeks an all out global revolution. He desires for Wakanda to position itself as a wellspring by equipping marginalized factions with its cutting-edge weaponry—a move he’s sure will liberate the country from the shadows and into an international superpower. Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, who co-wrote the script, turn an age-old narrative on its head via Killmonger’s revisionist fury: The colonized as the colonizers. Lines are drawn, and what transpires is a film of beauty, backbone, and startling discipline. Technically lush, Black Panther infuses itself with diasporic hybridity: Wakandan dress, architecture, and dialect pull from Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, and South Africa. So, what can a superhero movie be? It can be truth and fire and love. If we’re lucky, it is all of those things, perhaps more. It’s no mistake that Black Panther overflows with them. https://www.wired.com/story/black-panther-review/
Dirty dancing
 In the summer of 1963, Baby goes to a mountain holiday resort with her parents and sister. There, she meets dance teacher Johnny Castle, who teaches her how to move, and with whom she falls in love. But things are never quite that simple​ Dirty Dancing's standing as one of the '80s most memorable teen movies is due as much to the phenomenon than the film itself. Virtually every twenty-something woman in the modern world watched it as a pre-teen and was won over by the film's sweet-but-not-schmaltzy vision of first love.
Then, of course, there are the many otherwise normal people out there who can recite the entire script, sing all the songs and have watched the film an unhealthy number of times. But the film's appeal isn't just down to the hype that surrounds it.
The story of the girl (Jennifer Grey) who gets lessons in dance – and lurve – amounts to little more than feel-good fluff. But both leads give it their best shot, with Swayze on fine hip-swinging form and Grey acting and actually looking like Jane Average, rather than a supermodel in a pair of glasses.
And then there's that cheesy yet perfect dialogue. "No one puts Baby in the corner"; "I carried a watermelon?"; "You're wild!" - it ain't Shakespeare, but thanks to a strange sort of alchemy, it goes through so-bad-it's-good territory and back out into the clear waters of genius.
But perhaps the film's real staying power comes from the fact that, while everyone remembers the dancing and the (many) comic moments, there are touches of real darkness here too - racism, backstreet abortions, infidelity. It's that dark background that allows the love story to shine more brightly, and provides that huge emotional high when the dancing begins.
The fact that it spawned one of the biggest-selling soundtracks ever (yes, people paid good money to own something featuring Patrick Swayze singing), a sell-out concert tour, a (lesser) sequel and a stage musical shows how people have taken it to their hearts.
Endlessly quotable, strangely fascinating and immensely charming, there's a reason that this retains an evergreen appeal. And it takes a hard heart not to grin at the final, euphoric dance number.
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/dirty-dancing/review/
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Rise of the Planet of the Apes a smart and highly entertaining popcorn thriller from British-born director Rupert Wyatt, cheerfully satirical in the tradition of this movie series, yet unpretentious at the same time. The film utilizes digital FX technology which has now evolved to such an
extent that super-intelligent apes can be shown convincingly on screen for the first time. The simian star of this one is Caesar, whose movements and characterisation are provided through motion-capture technology by Andy Serkis, who similarly played the gorilla in Peter Jackson's 2005 remake of King Kong.
This really is a very enjoyable film: suspenseful and involving, and Caesar is a great character with mannerisms and expressions that are neither simian nor human but bizarrely convincing as a combination of both – dramatically and comically, if not scientifically. Caesar should be absurd, but never at any time will you feel the urge to laugh at him, though you might laugh with him, as he grows up and realises his destiny.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes made its debut in the United States and Canada on roughly 5,400 screens within 3,648 theaters. It grossed $19,534,699 on opening day and $54,806,191 in its entire opening weekend, making it #1 for that weekend as well as the fourth-highest-grossing August opening ever. The film ended its run at the box office on December 15, 2011, with a gross of $176,760,185 in the U.S. and Canada as well as $305,040,864 internationally, for a total of $481,801,049 worldwide
Article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/11/rise-planet-of-apes-review
It may be hard to believe that there’s any other movie to watch in theaters besides Star Wars or I,Tonya, but that’s definitely not true. One that you shouldn’t miss is the tragic (but somehow also hilarious) film, Three Billboards Outside, Ebbing Missouri. This dark comedy has already earned itself several awards, along with six Golden Globes nods and four Screen Actors Guild nominations. Because of the limited release, you may have missed this one, but the plot summary of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is so intriguing that you’ll definitely want to catch up.
Three Billboards, as the film is often referred to, tells the story of a mother trying to get justice for her daughter in a small town (Ebbing, Missouri, as you can probably guess). Frances McDormand stars as Mildred Hayes, a mother who is grieving the death of her daughter, who was raped and murdered. Years have passed, yet no arrests have been made, and Hayes feels like the justice system is doing nothing about the crime.
Slowly going insane from heartbreak and the frustration of not knowing who killed her daughter, Hayes takes desperate measures to get noticed. She takes out three giant billboards along the highway, calling out the local Sheriff, Bill Willoughby (played by Woody Harrelson) and his deputy Jason Dixon (played by Sam Rockwell) for not solving the case.
Willoughby, while sympathetic to Hayes, is more than a little upset about being called out in such a public way. The billboards polarize the town, forcing people into one of two teams: the people who side with Hayes, and the people who side with Willoughby. This is made more complicated by the fact that Willoughby has recently been diagnosed with cancer, something that seemingly everyone in the town knows about.
But Hayes is counting on the attention — the reason she took the billboards out is to bring as much public attention to her daughter’s case as possible. She believes that the more attention, the more likely it is for the killer to be found, and for justice to be served.
Throughout the film, Hayes grapples with a lot of issues that feel incredibly relevant in today’s world. The story of Dixon as a racist cop on a power trip has sparked controversy for being a little bit too racially charged. Hayes struggles to be taken seriously as a woman, and feels that not enough attention is being paid to a rape case. It’s essentially a story of female revenge against a group of men who don’t seem to be hearing her.
Three Billboards quickly won over critics: It won the People’s Choice Award, the top prize at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, and was named one of the top 10 films of the year by the American Film Institute. It’s been nominated for six Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture in Drama, Best Director, Best Actress (McDormand), Best Supporting Actor (Rockwell), Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score. McDormand’s and Rockwell’s performances particularly stand out, and many people think they’ll snag some wins. Article: https://www.google.com/amp/s/hellogiggles.com/news/what-is-threebillboards-outside-ebbing-missouri-about/amp/