Monthly Archives: March 2018

March Madness of Movies: Best Superhero Villains of the 21st Century — Round 3

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

Two of the four finalists were near guarantees to make it from the very beginning — Heath Ledger’s The Joker from The Dark Knight and Ian McKellen’s Magneto from the first X-Men trilogy. Ledger had some admiral contenders in Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin from Spider-Man and Michael Fassbender’s version of Magneto from the second X-Men trilogy. But truly, no one stood a chance. McKellen was less of a sure thing. Whether he had come up against Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent/Two Face from The Dark Knight or, his eventual competitor, Jason Lee’s Syndrome from The Incredibles, there was an off chance that personal preference might’ve taken him down.

But the two made it through, and will now take on each other. The Joker is, surely, the stronger contender, but McKellen’s Magneto is the strongest competition that he’s come up against.

On the other side of the bracket, the battle between Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and Michael B. Jordan’s Erik Killmonger was expected — Loki being the old favorite and Killmonger being the new favorite. While there was a shot for Loki to hold onto that love that he earned years ago and make it through, the votes tipped heavily to Black Panther‘s Killmonger, an absolutely worthy final four entry.

The villain he’ll face, Tom Hardy’s Bane from The Dark Knight Rises, started of this bracket by surprisingly earning a #1 seed. There was always an opportunity for him to fall, whether that be to the recently beloved Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming or the previous brilliant webslinger antagonist, Doc Ock, from Spider-Man 2. But Bane advanced confidently. Yet, he’ll have a massive mountain to climb in the face of Killmonger.

At this point, we’ve lost representation from the “other” group of villains, while retaining entries from the MCU, DC and the X-Men films. And if the favorites make it through to the finals, it’ll be the classic Marvel vs. DC battle we’ve all come to know quite well.

Stay tuned for the round 4 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, April 6!

 

Featured image via Marvel/20th Century Fox/Warner Bros.

March Madness of Movies: Best Cinematography Since 2010 — Round 3

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

The final four of Best Cinematography Since 2010 is here and we have two fascinating matchups. While Emmanuel Lubezki had four entries with Gravity, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), The Tree of Life and The Revenant, he did not make it through. Bradford Young, who entered with Arrival, A Most Violent Year and Mother of George, also did not make it.

Roger Deakins had three entries and squeaked through for his Oscar winning work on Blade Runner 2049. He will face off against the oldest (not that any of these are actually old) cinematography in Mihai Malaimare Jr. for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. These are two absolute titans, two #1 seeds in a battle that could rather easily go either way.

The other battle is both bad news and good news for its contenders, as Hoyte van Hoytema will compete against himself in a cinematography matchup of Her vs. Dunkirk. The bad news is that he’ll knock his own work out, but the good news is that he’s guaranteed a spot in the finally. And, much like the other matchup, this one is nearly impossible to predict — though it is a fight between a #1 and #2 seed, instead of two #1 seeds, meaning that the slight, slight edge is with van Hoytema’s lensing for Spike Jonze’s Her. Although, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is a much larger canvas.

It will be interesting to see what the finale ends up being. Will it be a battle of 2017 Best Cinematography nominees? Will it be a battle between the oldest contenders? Will it be a battle of the 70mm films? Will it be a battle of the artificial intelligence sci-fi pictures?

Stay tuned for the round 4 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, April 6!

 

Featured image via Annapurna/Warner Bros.

March Madness of Movies: Best A24 Films — Round 2

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

While every other bracket had some kind of outside seed make it into the elite eight, “Best A24 Films” stuck to the script with every #1 seed and #2 seed advancing through round 2.

But this is not say that that’s bad or boring in any way. On the contrary, this makes this upcoming round as hard as it could possibly be, contenders nearly impossible to decide between.

As a top eight, of sorts, of A24, these films are unbelievable. From Oscar winners to indie gems to near arthouse experiments, these eight films are about as strong as it gets from a studio, especially from such a young one.

#1 seed Moonlight has, expectedly, made it this far, and will face off against #2 seed Swiss Army Man. While Moonlight did win Best Picture, Swiss Army Man was its own kind of transformative film, at least for a few on staff.

#1 seed Lady Bird has also, expectedly, made it to round 3, and will take on #2 seed The Lobster. If there’s ever an indie name to cheer on, it’s eccentric writer-director Yorgos Lanthimos — that is, unless he’s facing off against Greta Gerwig. Either film will be a worthy choice.

#1 seed A Ghost Story held on through two rounds, but now faces its toughest challenge in Mike Mills’ absolutely lovely and sublime #2 seed 20th Century Women. Can the strength of Greta Gerwig not only help Lady Bird, but also 20th Century Women?

And finally, #1 seed The Florida Project will compete against #2 seed Ex Machina. In regard to material, these two films could not be more different, so it seems like this one will likely come down to taste.

Hopefully, the results of the next round will not be too painful.

Stay tuned for the round 3 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, March 30!

 

Featured image via A24.

March Madness of Movies: Best Superhero Villains of the 21st Century — Round 2

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

While five The Dark Knight trilogy villains worked their way into round 2, only 2 now remain in #1 seeds The Joker (Heath Ledger) and Bane (Tom Hardy) from The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, respectively. #4 seed Scarecrow from the entire trilogy and #3 seed Ra’s al Ghul from Batman Begins were eliminated at the hands of MCU heavyweights #1 seed Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) from Black Panther and #2 seed Loki (Tom Hiddleston) from The Avengers (and other MCU films). Those two heavyweights will now face each other in what is, essentially, the decider of the best MCU villain.

The previously mentioned #1 seed Bane will compete against the #2 seed Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) from Spider-Man 2 — both physical beasts with fascinating stories behind them. #1 seed The Joker will go head-to-head with #2 seed Magneto (the Michael Fassbender version) from the new X-Men trilogy. While the absence of a backstory makes The Joker so frightening and effective, it’s the tragic, heartbreaking backstory of the younger version of Magneto that elicits so much empathy for him, despite his cruel actions.

The final matchup will be #1 seed Magneto (the Ian McKellen version) from the original X-Men trilogy vs. #3 seed Buddy Pine/Syndrome (voiced by the hilarious Jason Lee) from The Incredibles. While Magneto still has the backstory, his older version is plenty of fun to watch, as is Syndrome. Both hit on the larger-than-life characters while never feeling cheap.

The spread of contenders remaining feels just about right. This bracket is made up of villains from the MCU, DC films, X-Men films and any other superhero villains, and there is prominent representation of each of those subcategories in the elite eight. There is even potential for there to still be representation of each in the next round.

Stay tuned for the round 3 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, March 30!

 

Featured image via Marvel/20th Century Fox/Pixar/Warner Bros.

March Madness of Movies: Best Big Budget Directing of the 21st Century — Round 2

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

There were very few surprises this round, and the competition is starting to shape up and become really difficult to work through.

In the superhero directing subcategory, the best of Marvel and the best of DC have now come to face each other, with #1 seed Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight taking on #2 seed Ryan Coogler for Black Panther. Will the next votes lean toward the more recent cultural phenomenon or will they look back on the near all-time classic crime epic from a decade ago?

In the franchise directing subcategory, it’s the battle of the acronyms: #1 seed Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King vs. #2 seed Matt Reeves for War for the Planet of the Apes. Both are epics of the highest order.

In the prestige/original/non-franchise studio directing subcategory, #2 seed George Miller for Mad Max: Fury Road comes up against Christopher Nolan yet again. Miller just beat #6 seed Nolan for Dunkirk and will now face #4 seed Nolan for Inception. Can he triumph yet again against this generation’s most popular director?

Finally, in the animated directing subcategory, two Pixar giants will go toe-to-toe: #1 seeds Pete Docter and Bob Peterson for Up vs. #3 seed Brad Bird for The Incredibles. These directors already made it by some huge Pixar contenders, so this matchup will be even tougher to consider.

The winners of these battles will then move on to a rather interesting part of this bracket, the part where subcategories end and contenders blend. Winners of subcategories will be crowned only to face the other winners in the final four. But who will those winners end up being?

Stay tuned for the round 3 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, March 30!

 

Featured image via Marvel/New Line Cinema/Warner Bros.

March Madness of Movies: Best Cinematography Since 2010 — Round 2

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

Round 2 was a blood bath — not necessarily because of upsets, but because each matchup pitted such strong contenders against each other regardless of seeds.

But there were some fascinating results. While Roger Deakins went into round 2 holding on to all three of his entries, two of them got knocked out this time around. #2 seed Bradford Young for Arrival took down #3 seed Deakins for Skyfall, and #2 seed Hoyte van Hoytema for Dunkirk took down #6 seed Deakins for Sicario.

Young will compete against the powerhouse of #1 seed Mihai Malaimare Jr. for The Master, who beat #4 seed James Laxton for Moonlight. van Hoytema will face fellow Christopher Nolan cinematographer, #4 seed Wally Pfister for Inception, who (perhaps unsurprisingly, due to the popularity factor) upset #1 seed Andrew Droz Palermo for A Ghost Story.

In fact, van Hoytema remains as the most prominent competitor with two entries. His #1 seed work on Her worked by #5 seed Sayombhu Mukdeeprom for Call Me by Your Name. van Hoytema will battle #2 seed Linus Sandgren, who just squeezed by #3 seed Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity after a tie-breaking vote.

The final matchup features the last remaining entries of two of the strongest initial contenders: #1 seed Roger Deakins for Blade Runner 2049 vs. #2 seed Emmanuel Lubezki for The Tree of Life.

Breaking down the remaining contenders, half of them come from the past two years and the other four are spread between 2010 and 2013, offering a well-rounded and deserving field. The next round will be particularly painful as most of these are #1 and #2 seeds, which were so close to begin with in the initial seeding votes. And even if Wally Pfister, a #4 seed, makes it through, he’d be more than deserving as well.

Stay tuned for the round 3 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, March 30!

 

Featured image via Fox Searchlight Pictures/Paramount Pictures/Warners Bros.

‘Mute’ Review: A glimpse at a dull future

Posted on by Leave a comment

Mute, co-written and directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft), is about a man named Leo (Alexander Skarsgård), who happens to be Amish and mute, trying to find his missing girlfriend (Seyneb Saleh) in a futuristic Germany. He has to fight gangsters, find clues that she left behind and put up with abuse for being unable to speak. An Amish mute? Fighting bad guys?! Having premarital sex?! The Future?! What sounds like a movie that’s at least mildly interesting turns out to be a complete bore, much like the slew of other Netflix originals over the past few months.

Paul Rudd plays Cactus, an American surgeon working for these gangsters, and is probably the most entertaining part of the entire movie. How he ended up in Germany taking bullets out of gangsters is a mystery, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Cactus is looking for a way back to America along with his daughter, and he’ll do anything to obtain that. It’s fun to see Paul Rudd playing a villain, a departure from his typical roles, but he deserves a much better movie around him.

If you’re wondering, “Wow, I wonder if Cactus has anything to do with Leo’s missing girlfriend,” you would be on the right track! There’s really nothing shocking about this movie, although I must admit I was taken aback by how advanced the sex dolls of the future are.

As much as I hate to say this about a movie Paul Rudd is in, Mute is one to steer clear of. It’s boring, its vision of the future is cliché and Cactus’s best friend is a pedophile. Watch at risk of wasting two hours of your life.

Grade: 4.5/10

 

Mute was released on February 23, 2018 and is currently available for streaming on Netflix.

Featured image courtesy of Netflix.

March Madness of Movies: Best Cinematography Since 2010 — Round 1

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

In “Best Cinematography Since 2010,” 13 of the 16 matchups went to higher seeds, with upsets only coming from middle competitions. #5 seeds Sayombhu Mukdeeprom for Call Me by Your Name and Wally Pfister for Inception bested #4 seeds Luca Bigazzi for The Great Beauty and Rodrigo Prieto for Silence, respectively, while #6 seed Roger Deakins for Sicario beat out #3 seed Dick Pope for Mr. Turner; although Roger Deakins winning is never really an upset kind of story as he’s always such a strong contender. Mukdeeprom and Pfister have big competition ahead in #1 seed Hoyte van Hoytema for Her and #1 seed Andrew Droz Palermo for A Ghost Story, while Deakins will take on #2 seed van Hoytema for Dunkirk.

While Emmanuel Lubezki had four entries initially, he only has two remaining, for #3 seed Gravity and #2 seed The Tree of Life. He’ll have a very tough road ahead of him, facing #2 seed Linus Sandgren for La La Land and #3 seed John Seale for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Both Bradford Young and Hoyte van Hoytema had three entries to start. Young’s only remaining one is his #2 seed Arrival, which will take on #3 seed Roger Deakins for Skyfall. Deakins for Skyfall is what took out van Hoytema’s #6 seed cinematography for Interstellar.

Deakins is quite clearly the strongest on this list, even if he didn’t have the most entries to begin with. All three of his are still in competition, and his #1 seed Oscar-winning work for Blade Runner 2049 will test its strength against #4 seed Bruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis. The final matchup will be a powerhouse of spellbinding drama photography: #1 seed Mihai Malaimare Jr. for The Master vs. #4 seed James Laxton for Moonlight.

Stay tuned for the round 2 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, March 23!

 

Featured image via Lionsgate/Warner Bros.

March Madness of Movies: Best Superhero Villains of the 21st Century — Round 1

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

There were a few upsets in “Best Superhero Villains of the 21st Century,” but they do seem rather easily explainable. #5 seed Adrian Toomes/Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming topped #4 seed Mr. Glass from Unbreakable; the middle matchup is always up in the air and the former comes from such a massive property. Vulture could put up a fight against #1 seed Bane from The Dark Knight Rises, one of the weaker high seeds. In addition, #6 seed Professor Robert Callaghan from Big Hero 6 took down #3 seed Helmut Zemo from Captain America: Civil War. Zemo rose to a #3 seed due to very strong individual rankings. Plus, he’s not in the film that much, as the main conflict revolves around Iron Man and Captain America. It’s also going to be tough for Callaghan to get much further, as he’ll come up against #2 seed Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2.

Beyond that, everything went as planned. Two of the MCU’s best villains, in #1 seed Erik Killmonger from Black Panther and #2 seed Loki from multiple MCU films, will take on two The Dark Knight trilogy villains, in #4 seed Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow and #3 seed Ra’s al Ghul.

On the other side of the bracket, #1 seed The Joker from The Dark Knight will battle another smiling evildoer in #4 seed Green Goblin from Spider-Man. Both Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender’s Magnetos, #1 and #2 seeds respectively, advanced and will take on MCU villains in #3 seed The Winter Soldier from Captain America: The Winter Soldier and #4 seed Ulysses Klaue from both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Black Panther. Finally, the fifth villain from The Dark Knight trilogy, #2 seed Harvey Dent/Two-Face, whose specifically from The Dark Knight, will face the animated contender, #3 seed Syndrome from The Incredibles.

Stay tuned for the round 2 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, March 23!

 

Featured image via Marvel/20th Century Fox/Sony Pictures/Warner Bros.

March Madness of Movies: Best A24 Films — Round 1

Posted on by Leave a comment

These matchups were vote on by the MovieMinis Staff.

“Best A24 Films” went mostly as expected. The only higher seed to lose out was Locke, but that seems understandable as #6 seed The Spectacular Now is a more popular film and Locke earned its #3 seed based on a few very strong individual votes.

What’s interesting about this round is the matchups it results in. #1 seed Moonlight may be safe, but it would be wrong to deem #4 seed American Honey as easy competition. #2 seed Swiss Army Man is adored by our staff, but as seen by #6 seed The Spectacular Now’s upset, it shouldn’t be underestimated. #1 seed A Ghost Story and #4 seed A Most Violent Year could not be more different, so voting is unpredictable; the same can be said about #2 seed 20th Century Women and #3 seed The Witch.

On the other side of the bracket, #1 seed Lady Bird will take on #4 seed Obvious Child, which worked passed a tie-breaking vote against #5 seed The End of the Tour in the previous round. #2 seed The Lobster, an unorthodox but beloved film, will go head to head with #3 seed Room, a Best Picture Oscar nominee. #1 seed The Florida Project will compete with #4 seed It Comes At Night in a battle of rather different genres. Finally, #2 seed Ex Machina will match up against #3 seed Good Time, two films that range from liked to loved by our staff.

How incredibly tight these matchups were and how unbearably difficult they will be in this coming round goes to show how fantastic A24 has been as a production/distribution studio. There are many different kinds of films on this list, but they all coalesce into a very cohesive sense of the A24 brand.

Stay tuned for the round 2 results, which will be posted next week on Friday, March 23!

 

Featured image via A24.

« Older Entries