cinema reviews
From Cliffhangers to TopSpinners via INCEPTION
August 27th, 2010
The term “cliffhanger” emerged between the early 1900s and 1937 in silent films, featuring (according to Wikipedia) “a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction… hoped to ensure the audience will return to see how the characters resolve the [...]
Waking from INCEPTION
August 24th, 2010
“What’s the most resilient parasite? An Idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules.”
What is Christopher Nolan REALLY trying to tell us with his arguable masterpiece of cinema that made the box office wake up with a start this summer? With [...]
INCEPTION: Dream a little Dreamscape of Me…
July 23rd, 2010
In 1984, a scary movie debuted called A Nightmare on Elm Street, birthing a scarred maniac who would lead a genre with a killer franchise for years to come. A lesser known thriller starring Dennis Quaid would make a relatively forgettable debut, though Dreamscape marked one of the first few films with a PG-13 rating [...]
A SHINING Overlook with Stanley
July 13th, 2010
My wife and I took a road trip from Seattle to Colorado and up into Wyoming to attend a conference and see Yellowstone National Park. With a rented Mustang convertible and over 9 hours of classic rock inspired by the television show Supernatural courtesy of our friend Dean (not THAT Dean), we found a cinema [...]
Riddle me this, IRON MAN 2
May 31st, 2010
“You can solve the riddle of your heart.” – Nick Fury
We’ve discussed Iron Man 2’s three major themes, and looked at the legacy of Howard Stark in previous posts, but I didn’t want to miss this little nugget. It’s not simply convenient that Iron Man’s heart is a focal point of this enduring comic book character, [...]
IRON MAN 2: The Legacy of Howard Stark
May 19th, 2010
All I can give you is my knowledge. – Howard Stark
From the opening, smirking speech Tony delivers at the beginning of Iron Man 2 to old newsreel footage of the impetuous Stark’s very 50s father, “legacy” is a key theme of the film (as mentioned in our inaugural video review). What kind of legacy are we [...]
IRON MAN: well-suited for sequel
May 12th, 2010
BIG plans for Tony Stark: this first review of Iron Man 2 is just a taste of what to come at Cinemagogue. As an avid comic book reader since the 70s, it’s been fascinating to watch a former second-stringer like Tony Stark rocket his way to pop culture Iron icon status. We owe thanks to [...]
ELM STREET won’t put you to sleep, but doesn’t slice deep
May 9th, 2010
I wasn’t allowed to watch “Freddy” or “Jason” movies growing up, and by the time I watched Krueger on television in the 90s he’d become less nightmarish and more of a self-parody. The 2010 remake promised to bring back the darker tone, and the material certainly provides great possibilities to provoke thoughts and conversations about [...]
No Man is a (SHUTTER) Island
April 30th, 2010
When my friend and Redemption Group Pastor tweeted that this film was “EPIC,” his high-praise proclamation was even more intriguing to me than Martin Scorsese’s trailer. Though I’m still not a DiCaprio fan, Shutter Island is a stylish, gripping psychological thriller exposing not only how we suppress the truth in our unrighteousness, but also how [...]
Going UP?
April 26th, 2010
In Pixar’s UP, an undeniably delicious treat for the senses, Carl Frederickson is chafing against the age-old aging process lamented in Ecclesiastes 12, and sets out to recapture the “spirit of adventure” and honor his late wife Ellie. We find, however, that his motives are mixed, and his mission is missing the mark. This literally [...]