Tag Archives: Movies

Lessons for 2017 Superhero Films: Spider-Man (2002)

Posted on November 24, 2017 by | Leave a comment

spider-man-stills-006.jpgReleased in 2002, the original Spider-Man is what arguably kicked off the superhero movie craze*. As we enter what might be the peak saturation point for the genre, re-watching the spidey film for perspective reveals less how far the genre has come, and actually highlights where it has faltered. 

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Character trumps mindless action in The Grey

Posted on February 1, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Grey star Liam Neeson and director Joe Carnahan have both been living it up in Hollywood productions for the last several years.  Neeson continues to pop up as some grizzled badass who will kill your childhood puppy, and Carnahan has been making zany slick action flicks like Smokin’ Aces and A-Team after making a big splash in 2002 with his gritty cop drama Narc (Ray Liotta, Jason Patric).  With The Grey, Carnahan and Neeson both return with less pomp and more dramatic flavor. Continue reading →

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The Artist: The silent film you never heard coming

Posted on January 30, 2012 by | 1 comment

Am I dreaming? I just walked out of a movie theater that had more people in attendance than any I’ve been in all year (save Harry Potter at midnight). The audience refused to talk throughout the 100-minute-long picture.  We hesitantly munched our popcorn, or opened our candy, afraid to disturb the tranquil silence which had descended upon us. We laughed in unison, gasped together, and when the lights came back up, all of us, and I mean all, applauded.  I just saw a silent film with more than a hundred people and all of them loved it more than I’ve ever seen an audience love any movie, including the final installment to the largest franchise in movie history.  I just saw The Artist. Continue reading →

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Five DVD labels who consistently push good films

Posted on July 8, 2011 by | 1 comment

When you walk into a videostore or check up on your Netflix queue, it’s generally a crapshoot finding new movies you haven’t heard much about. Here at The Filmsmith, we’ve made a habit of letting you in on some of the underground releases every week, movies you might not have heard of otherwise. But we typically can only get to one a week, and there are dozens of others making their way to home video, some for the first time. Here’s a list of a few DVD companies who have consistently put out good films – to such a degree that if you see something released by them, you can bet it’s probably top notch stuff. Continue reading →

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Videogames: Fun, but no story.

Posted on May 25, 2011 by | 4 comments

When Halo:Reach was a released back in September  2010 it made almost 200 million dollars in a day.  Over an extended weekend (Wednesday-Sunday), the biggest blockbuster can only muster $125 million.  These figures, combined with growing attempts by the video game industry to become more accessible to the general public (Wii, Xbox 360’s Kinect), make it a medium on the rise.  The only problem is we have yet to see a truly great story told by this technology. Continue reading →

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New footage revealed in the Russian trailer for “X-Men: First Class”

Posted on March 16, 2011 by | 1 comment

Last month we brought you the first full-trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class, which is set to open June 3rd of this year, and the Russian trailer has now appeared. As is usually the case with foreign trailers, we get some new visuals we didn’t get in the original U.S. trailer. It’s in Russian, but the visuals say everything you need to know. Let’s have a look…

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Hard-on for the Marines keeps “Battle: L.A.” from taking off

Posted on March 13, 2011 by | 1 comment

In the last 1/3 of Battle: L.A. protagonist Michael Nantz finally confesses to one of his men the details of the inner strife that has been percolating.  It’s supposed to be an emotionally charged moment, but it’s abruptly deflated when Nantz proclaims, “But none of that matters right now.”  And much to its detriment, that’s precisely how the film treats anything without bullets and fireballs. Continue reading →

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Warner Bros. bringing movies to Facebook

Posted on March 10, 2011 by | 1 comment

Like it or not, social networks are here to stay. From Twitter to Facebook, it’s getting hard to get by in the world if you’re not with either of those two networks. Aside from all the pros and cons of social networks a recent development may make these sites even more addicting, the addition of streaming movies.

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Awards Show Rewind: The Oscars

Posted on February 28, 2011 by | Leave a comment

After a long night of laughs, cries, spectacle, and surprises, the Oscars have come and gone once again. Who walked away with the gold and who left empty handed? The Oscars went to…

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Posted on December 13, 2010 by | 3 comments

In the wake of the film adaptations of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia have always felt like adorable younger siblings to these other fantasy epics.  Despite this, on the franchises’ third outing with Voyage of the Dawn Treader, it ranks almost as good as Harry Potter 7 pt 1.  Continue reading →

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