PopCorn

Superman and me

Fri, 24 May 2013 00:22:07 GMT

I have been a fan of Superman all my life. It’s perhaps not a surprise to most of you if you’ve been following my blog for some time. A throng of superheroes have come and gone in the last three decades since I saw Superman: The Movie for the first time. In fact, the number of comic-based films have quadruppled in the last ten years and there’s no end in sight, but for me, the Kryptonian hero shall always be my favorite. Read more...

The Secret of Kells (2009)

Tue, 21 May 2013 07:00:39 GMT

For some reason this Irish-French-Belgian animated feature eluded me, even though it was one of the Best Animated Feature nominees in 2010. It definitely deserves such kudos! Read more...

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:45:28 GMT

A young Pakistani man is chasing corporate success on Wall Street. He finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family’s homeland. Read more...

The Croods and Zambezia: good family viewing

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:15:40 GMT

Two new animated films hold positive messages for kids and their parents. Read more...

Side by Side

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 05:32:38 GMT

This is an insightful and thoughtful documentary produced and narrated by none other than Keanu Reeves. I’ve always thought that Keanu is one of those actors who are far more intelligent than meets the eye, and despite his stoic style, I quite like him as an actor and enjoyed a lot of his movies. Here he collaborated with Christopher Kenneally who previously worked with him as production manager in Henry’s Crime to direct the film. I think Keanu is the perfect person to conduct all the interviews, not only has he worked with a variety of directors in over 50 films, he’s also got that friendly, laid-back personality that would help make all the directors feel at ease discussing this hot-button issue. It’s nice to see Christopher and Keanu’s passionate curiosity on this topic as they asked some honest questions on both sides of the spectrum. Read more...

Top five Hollywood reboots

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 04:31:51 GMT

The Dark Knight Rises proved to be a suitably emotional end to the most successful franchise reboot in cinema history and is now part of a whole sub-genre of movies keen to get in on the act. Here are my top five Hollywood reboots. What are yours? Read more...

My Movie Influence: Sense & Sensibility

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:12:41 GMT

Many people have their own movies they think highly, praised and probably started seeing things differently after watching them. I’ve shared mine and I always wanted to know what others have. I asked other people which movie they think to have the best influence on them. What other possibility is there but Sense and Sensibility (1995)? Read more...

Super-hero movies: mere popcorn or Fillet Mignon?

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 05:37:26 GMT

It’s been another vintage year for the kind of overblown super-hero movie we’ve come to expect when summer rolls around. 2012 hasn’t pulled any punches. Joss Whedon’s fan favourite The Avengers ‘Hulk-smashed’ box office records and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises was a suitably satisfying conclusion to the iconic Batman reboot. Read more...

Ranking Christopher Nolan’s films

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 23:59:17 GMT

As part of my Inception-countdown series, I ranked five of Christopher Nolan's movies. Well, now he's got two more under his belt, making his total of feature-length film to seven. Read more...

Five Favorite Scores from 2012 Olympics Musical Director David Arnold

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 01:04:33 GMT

So have you been following the the Summer Olympics? It's interesting how a lot of film folks are involved in the opening/closing ceremony. British directors Danny Boyle and Stephen Daldry were tasked to conceptualize the Games' opening ceremony. Now serving as the musical director is renowned British composer David Arnold. So I thought it'd be fitting that for this week's music break, I shine the spotlight on Mr. Arnold and five of my favorite scores from his collection. Read more...

Ruby Sparks

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 23:34:18 GMT

A novelist struggling with writer’s block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence. Read more...

Welcome to Popcorn!

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 05:11:14 GMT

MercatorNet editor Michael Cook has asked me to introduce the newest addition to the MercatorNet family (the rowdy teenager of the blogs if you like) - Popcorn. Our aim is to look at what’s going in mainstream cinema and to hopefully give Hollywood the MercatorNet treatment, so to speak, to “put a sound vision of the human person” right at the heart of the movie world. Read more...

Should we feel guilty about seeing The Dark Knight Rises?

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 00:03:29 GMT

“Following the massacre at the Batman film in Colorado, are you thinking it would be in bad taste to go and see the film yourself?” This is the question asked by BBC Radio 2’s The Jeremy Vine show on Monday afternoon as the world was absorbing the details of the tragedy that unfolded at the The Dark Knight Rises premiere in Aurora, Colorado last weekend. Read more...

The Dark Knight Rises

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 06:34:41 GMT

In an era where seemingly every Summer we get a superhero cinematic event, Christopher Nolan still manages to kick it up a notch with The Dark Knight Rises. Really, even without the ruckus over death treats over negative reviews and the tragic event that happened in Aurora, CO, during a midnight screening, the hype over the final chapter to Nolan’s Batman saga is still a colossal one. The over-exposure is really quite overwhelming, to the point where I have to make extra effort to tune it out and be as fresh as possible. Read more...