Furious 7, the most recent entry in the Fast and Furious series, was released on April 3rd. At the time of this writing, it has already earned more than $800 million worldwide. While this number will likely be eclipsed in the summer by such heavyweights as Batman v Superman and The Avengers: Age of Ultron, $800 million is no small amount. In fact, if we’re considering international gross rather than domestic alone, Furious 7 has made more money in two weekends than nearly any film in all of 2014, including Guardians of the Galaxy, American Sniper, Mockingjay, Captain America, and The Lego Movie. The only two films I can find in 2014 that Furious 7 has not eclipsed globally are the final Hobbit movie and Transformers 4, and neither reached $800 million after only two weeks. The Fast and Furious franchise can now consider itself one of the most lucrative in the world.

So how, exactly, did this happen? How did a $38 million car racing flick featuring a bunch of barely-known actors turn into a global phenomenon? I may have some insight into that. My fiancee Reba and I had not been following this series. Aside from each having seen one full film in the franchise and a handful of scenes, we decided that we were woefully under-prepared for the juggernaut that is Furious 7. So, to get ready (and prepare for the complete Marvel marathon on April 20th-21st here),  we decided to catch ourselves up on every single film in the series over a single weekend.

What follows is my account, as a Fast-and-Furious-newbie, of the merits (or lack thereof) of each individual installment, as well as a tracking of the series’ evolution from mid-budget racing series to Michael-Bay-grandiose action franchise. You’re welcome. Continue reading The Fast and Furious Evolution of a Franchise →

Last week, I posted a podcast I recorded with my friend Jason about the movie Patch Adams. In the film, Robin Williams plays a med school student who upsets the medical institution by caring about patients and clowning around the hospital. In the podcast, one of my biggest complaints was that the movie completely failed to make the “established” doctors into anything more than villainous straw men for Patch to knock over. When questioned as to why they hated Patch (a man who, given his outright illegal actions throughout much of the movie, they have every reason to hate), they would say absurd things about him sinking to the patients’ level, or being too happy.

Continue reading Cinderella and the Importance of Complex Villains →

UPDATE: So, the Academy Awards have come and gone this year. I’m going to update each section below to my thoughts on the winners. The new text will all be in bold, so it should be easy to spot.

Some general thoughts: this wasn’t one of my best years for predictions. 17/24 isn’t bad, by most standards, but it’s less than 75%, which is typically where I fall. On the plus side, my misses were usually categories where I had been cynical about my prediction, and the Academy actually went with the option I wanted. So good on them for recognizing the right films for a lot (if not all) categories.

So, without further ado, here is the final, post-mortem Oscar write-up!

It’s that time of year, when the most hardcore of us film lovers start prognosticating on what a particular group of Hollywood insiders thought should be revered! Yes, it’s the Academy Awards, the foremost authority on “good” films, if you don’t consider the public, the fans, the critics, etc.

Yes, most awards are bullshit, but they’re also a fun way for us to start a conversation about what WE thought were the best of the year, and a good way for us to prove that the Hollywood Elite really are as predictable as we think they are. Below are both my predictions (after doing some research online about the “expected” winners) and my personal favorites in each category.

Also worth noting: if you want to see a list of the generally accepted “favorites,” the New York Times has a handy page right here. Continue reading Oscar 2015 Predictions →