After 24 films, the James Bond franchise knows how to devise exciting new ways to introduce a new actor in the leading role. While the James Bond code-name theory has been debunked, each actor still brings their own unique take on the role. You could be forgiven for thinking that the self-deprecating humor, and liberal…
Short Round, Indy’s precocious 12-year-old aide in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, was described by former LucasFilm archivist J.W. Rinzler as the real hero of Indy’s second big-screen adventure. He catches Indy and Willie Scott with his perfectly placed car in Shanghai. Later, he defends Willie, uses a burning torch to break Kali’s…
In 2006, Superman returned to the big screen after a two-decade hiatus. The film could have been great. It had the right guy playing Superman, and it picked up the storyline five years after the events of Richard Donner’s cut of Superman II. But it also suffered from dubious creative decisions and a bloated budget…
Netflix’s Daredevil set the bar high for Disney+’s follow-up series, Daredevil: Born Again. Fans were a bit disappointed when star Charlie Cox revealed the new show won’t be “as gory”, though he did say it will still be for more mature audiences. While audiences got a kick out of seeing Matt Murdock give Peter Parker legal advice in Spider-man: No…
Would you like to see genius at work? Would you like to see how one of cinema’s greatest heroes emerged from a blank sheet of paper? Very rarely do we get a glimpse behind closed doors at a real, unedited creative discussion during pre-production. It’s so rare, that the only one I can think of…
Search your bookcase, you know it to be true In 1977, Star Wars hit the big screen. George Lucas’ space opera brought scope to science fiction. A sweeping tale of good over evil. Much has been made of Lucas’ incorporation of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Lucas, himself, admits that a variety of sources influenced his saga….
What is a MacGuffin? It’s perhaps the most mysterious plot device in film. The MacGuffin (sometimes spelled McGuffin) is often misunderstood, and can be a lazy way to push the plot forward. But in the hands of a master, it can be used to create a clever and intricate narrative. Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of…
At 2018’s New York Comic Con, writer/producer Akiva Goldsman talked about the long and difficult road he and co-producer Geoff Johns took to bring DC Universe’s Titans to the small screen. Ultimately, they decided to take Titans in a much darker direction than the lighter tone of Teen Titans Go! Despite the rocky performance of…