DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Dives Deep into its Source Material’s Lore in a Densely Packed First Season
The problem with adapting such a lore-heavy property like DOTA is that you can quickly lose the audience by trying to service too many plot threads. As of now, DOTA 2 has 119 playable champions, each with their own backstory.…
Pacific Rim: The Black is A Grim, Slow-Paced Take on the Cheesy Action Franchise
Pacific Rim: The Black is not only the franchise’s first foray into animation, it’s also a marked departure from the films. The films were mostly cheesy affairs, optimistic about the heroes’ chances at defeating the kaijus and fending off the…
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a Clear Improvement over the Original Cut, Despite its Massive Length
Zack Snyder’s Justice League has had a long and eventful road to its release on HBO Max. After Zack Snyder’s daughter Rose tragically passed away, the studio saw it as an opportunity to replace him with Joss Whedon, who had…
Raya and the Last Dragon is an Exciting Adventure Story Inspired by East Asian Cultures with Beautifully Detailed Animation
Raya and the Last Dragon is an exciting, breathtaking adventure set in a brilliantly realized world with engaging lore, and a story with important values that doesn’t talk down to its audience. It’s one of those Disney animation productions that…
Behind Her Eyes is a Tense, Psychological Thriller with a Memorable (and Controversial) Twist
Behind Her Eyes is one of those shows that are made or undone on the basis of its major twist. On the surface, it is another psychosexual thriller following in the tradition of Gone Girl and The Girl on the…
Tom and Jerry is a Harmless, Run-of-the-Mill Movie Adaptation that is Faithful to the Source Material
Tom and Jerry never tries to be anything more than a simple children’s affair, which isn’t necessarily wrong in and of itself. This isn’t the first feature length film featuring the duo- the 1992 version featured speaking, singing versions of…
Wandavision Takes a Unique Look at Grief through a Superhero Lens with a Clever Sitcom Backdrop
After thirteen years of movies, the Marvel Cinematic Universe definitely needed a splash of freshness to make its future offerings seem enticing instead of tiring. Wandavision is a mostly successful exercise in that regard. It’s a show that’s both small…
I Care A Lot is about Terrible People Doing Terrible Things to Each Other
Make no mistake, Rosamund Pike is vile in I Care a Lot. Not only is her character, Marla Grayson, a ruthless hustler who preys on the elderly and swindles them for all their worth under the pretense of caring for…
Judas and the Black Messiah is a Compelling and Intense Take on Revolutionary Activism, Galvanized by its Fantastic Lead Performance
Judas and the Black Messiah arrives on the heels of other films representing seminal moments in Black history, such as One Night in Miami and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Directed by Shaka King, it portrays Fred Hampton, a…
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things Carves Out its Space in the Increasingly Crowded Time Loop Genre
When The Groundhog Day came out twenty-eight years ago, who would have thought it would launch a genre of time loop movies almost two decades afterwards? But that has indeed been the case: from slashers like the Happy Death Day…
