In this bonus episode of the podcast, Matt and guest Robert Fekkes discuss the various trailers and announcements unveiled at San Diego Comic Con 2016. Continue reading →
This week Matt, Tiny, and Mike discuss the latest DC Films news, Cary Fukunaga’s potential Napoleon HBO miniseries, and the Tetris movie trilogy. For their main topic, they discuss some of their favorite movies centered on music and/or musicians. Included in the discussion are This is Spinal Tap, Airheads, High Fidelity, Almost Famous, 8 Mile, and Walk the Line. For their Potpourri section, the guys discuss Hush, The Gunman, and Green Room. Continue reading →
Ask Me Anything‘s cover art and description on Netflix are deceiving. The cover displays star Britt Robertson (Tomorrowland, Under the Dome) haphazardly wearing a man’s shirt and tie with a disheveled bed behind her and a befuddled, “look what I’ve gotten myself into” expression on her face. Netflix’s elevator pitch plot description reads: “On a yearlong break between high school and college, a teenager writes an anonymous but highly revealing blog chronicling her sex life.” Rounding out the misdirection is the tagline: “Young, not so innocent.” Continue reading →
About 45 minutes into Fantastic Four‘s meager 85 minute runtime, the 5 year old sitting a few rows in front of me loudly asked her parents “Which one of them turns into the rock thing!?” I usually have zero tolerance for movie talkers and theater disruptions. However, instead of quietly wishing that theaters would double charge parents who bring their children to a non-matinee show time, I chuckled because the kid was onto something. Continue reading →
January 1st is my favorite day of the year. It’s the day where I take all the “movie watching data” I’ve collected over the last 365 days and put it all into one file. Having started Obsessive Viewer in February 2013, last year was the first year I got to share my stats online. You can read my year in review post from 2013 here.Continue reading →
A decade ago, I was a teenager in high school. I had my first job at my local movie theater and used my newfound disposable income to get a Netflix subscription.
Over the summer of 2004, 17/18 year old Matt wrote 21 movie reviews and posted them on IMDb. Recently, I dug up these reviews and decided to revisit each movie and evaluate how my tastes have changed over the last decade.
A decade ago, I was a teenager in high school. I had my first job at my local movie theater and used my newfound disposable income to get a Netflix subscription.
Over the summer of 2004, 17/18 year old Matt wrote 21 movie reviews and posted them on IMDb. Recently, I dug up these reviews and decided to revisit each movie and evaluate how my tastes have changed over the last decade.
May was a bit of a return to form for me, as far as movies are concerned. I managed to get 30 viewings into the month and an astonishing (for me) 5 theater viewings.
Unfortunately for my bank account, it was also my most expensive month so far. Between the $157.52 and all the lost minute expenses I incurred for Indy PopCon at the end of the month, I really think I need to start budgeting my money more. I’ll worry about that on my own time. For now, let’s break down my month in movies. Continue reading →
April was a surprisingly disappointing month. Maybe this is becoming the norm for me? I can’t account for why I’ve watched so few movies or why I feel like I should shoot for a minimum of 30 a month, apparently. Luckily I managed to spend considerably less money than usual. So that’s something.
Before I start the final review of this series, I want to reiterate that I am not terribly informed when it comes to the greater mythos of the X-Men comic book universe. With regret, my only experience with X-Men outside of the movies has been the animated series from when I was a kid in the 90s.
When I think about the cartoon, I remember being really drawn to the Sentinels. I thought they were a very cool and frightening enemy for the X-Men. You can imagine my disappointment when, in 6 movies, all we’ve got in terms of Sentinels is one brief appearance in a simulation at the beginning of The Last Stand. It didn’t make it into my review of the movie, but it bothered me that a Sentinel could exist in a simulation when they don’t exist in the “real world” of the movies yet. Continue reading →
I had seen X-Men: First Class once before. I was really tired and the disc was damaged so I couldn’t finish it properly until the next day. When I finished it, I felt like it was good. In fact, I thought it was really good. For whatever reason, I didn’t get quite as swept up in the fervor surrounding it that first go around.
Now that I’ve seen it again, this time properly and within the context of the franchise as a whole, I freaking loved it! I rescind my remark from my X2 review wherein I said I “have a hard time choosing between X2 and First Class when choosing which title is my favorite of the X-Men franchise.” After a second viewing of First Class, it is unequivocally my favorite movie of the franchise thus far. Continue reading →
Oh boy. Now it’s time to review X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This was my first time seeing this movie. I was so scarred by The Last Stand that I took a sabbatical from the franchise. Even if I hadn’t, the overwhelmingly negative word of mouth that this movie received didn’t exactly sway me into a seat at the theater. Continue reading →
I would love to call baseball my favorite sport, if I were a sports enthusiast. Being that I’m an obsessive viewer of movies and TV, though, I don’t have the time to become a sports fan. It’s all well and good because I can live vicariously through one of my favorite genres of movies: the sports movie. Now that Spring has finally sprung (well, in theory; it’s snowing right now), I’ve made my yearly pledge that I’ll go to an Indianapolis Indians game, I decided to watch 42.
42 depicts the historical rookie season of Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American major league baseball player in 1947. Chadwick Boseman plays the famed baseball player while Harrison Ford tackles the supporting role of Dodgers manager Branch Rickey, the man who gave Robinson his start in the MLB. Continue reading →
One of the best things about movies is their ability to create conversation amongst an audience of strangers. Movies that specifically tackle deep philosophical issues should inspire debate and conversation. I went into God’s Not Dead with the hope that it would have at least a frame of something, anything at all thought provoking. After all, this is a movie that at its core is about one of humanity’s most polarizing debates.
Unfortunately, God’s Not Dead amounts to an over the top piece of religious propaganda that will only appeal to people sucked into its message before they bought their ticket. In the process of actively avoiding subtext while delivering its propaganda, God’s Not Dead managed to become the most offensive movie I’ve ever seen.
Pretty slow, which isn't a surprise as the story kind of demands a slow burn to show us the inner pain and turmoil of the characters. It's gorgeously shot and haunting, at times, in its slow tension building. But there wasn't enough there to justify all the long stretches of rehashing ideas and sentiments through voice over. It makes for a rea […]
I sincerely wonder if Olivia Wilde watched Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and decided Elizabeth Banks' comedic take on 90s journalists was accurate enough and did the same.Really though, Olivia Wilde is in an entirely different movie and it feels so forced and incongruous to the rest of the movie. Richard Jewell is a serviceable enough award […]
This was a frustrating watch because it's so aimless by design. Is it a drama about this stoner's laid back attitude toward life? Or is it a comedy about a bumbling, carefree guy coasting through life? I think it's neither. Instead it's just Korine having fun with depicting a lifestyle and nothing more. There are bits of conflict and plot […]
First of all, this documentary had some really stunning cinematography. And I respect the fly on the wall (or bee in the hive?) vérité approach to the film. It's a style of documentary I'm not terribly familiar with and I was impressed with how unobtrusive the filmmakers were.The problem I have is that I just did jot connect with the story being to […]
I really enjoyed Jessie Buckley's performance. The movie was overall just okay. I'm not a fan of country music but the music in Wild Rose is much more solid and enjoyable than I expected.I wasn't invested in the story all that much. The character arc and overall theme of chasing your dreams but also coming to terms with your adult responsibili […]
Just as good, maybe better, the second time around. Out of this world acting from Johansson and Driver. Great supporting acting from Dern, Liotta, Alda. Azhy Robertson does a great job as well.But the way Baumbach handles this story so lovingly and painfully is what makes this such a beautiful movie. Everything fits together so well and the chemistry between […]