Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Arnold Schwarzenegger is once again playing a machine cloaked in human skin in Terminator Genisys, but now he’s the most human thing in a plastic movie. Arnie’s trademark grimace looks rough around the edges, like a slab of petrified wood after years of erosion. In a movie that’s basically shitty comfort food, the original Terminator…
That title is not hyperbole. This literally shocked me. Son of Batman, an animated movie, is pretty much exactly what the title suggests. And this scene, in which Batman finds out he has a son, is one of the more bizarre and uncomfortable on-screen moments I’ve ever seen. Son of Batman is the animated version…
Reboots are the magic spells of marketing: A few licensed words summon hordes of fans to pay for a film and promote it for free, pushing it to the top of trending topics with endless online discussion whether they like it or not. When they work, they combine old fans with new viewers. When they…
Masks have always been considered a semi-obligatory part of superheroing; you can skip the whole “secret identity” thing if you want, but everyone’s gonna think you’re a jerk (or worse, Aquaman). With the exception of Superman, who hides behind a hair curl and a lack of glasses, almost every major comic book hero has a…
Actors Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons and Shameik Moore in Dope David Moir /sl-art-illo-cap /sl-art-illo-cntr First, let’s get this out of the way. Dope is a good movie. It is enjoyable, watchable and sweet. But it is also so sweet that if it were a drink, it would be a hipster, artisan rum punch drowning in…
Coming-of-age stories are about going through something defining. Movies like The Breakfast Club endure because the experiences they capture, like grappling with identity or awkward sexuality, are meant to be universal, signposts that mark the moments where we quit being kids. Resolution comes as each character — our teenaged avatars — take those first steps…
“Dope” begins with an onscreen definition, which is a known characteristic of satires that ultimately fail in their satiric visions. Usually, these films open with a definition of satire, which they don’t live up to by the closing credits. “Dope” opts instead for Webster’s take on its title, defining it as slang for a stupid…
Photo From left, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons and Shameik Moore in “Dope.” Credit Rachel Morrison/Open Road Films A coming-of-age story that is at once a parody of, and a tribute to, ’90s-vintage ghetto dramas, “Dope” wears its pop-culture obsessions on its sleeve. So does its hero, Malcolm (Shameik Moore), a teenager navigating his senior year…
How do young black men see themselves in America today? This is the formidable question buried under the high-top fades and Cross-Colour jeans of Rick Famiyuwa’s natty new film Dope. It’s the story of Malcolm, a retro-obsessed hip-hop geek with Harvard aspirations navigating senior year in a rough section of Inglewood, California. He and fellow…
Much has been made about the M-rating of the recently released Batman: Arkham Knight, and how far the game is willing to go in terms of characters and moving the actual storyline of this world forward. It’s a final game in many ways, and it plays for keeps. But as long-time Batman fans already know,…