Toisto.net
-
Blogit
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a bittersweet goodbye
After six long years, the Guardians of the Galaxy return for one last curtain call. With a mammoth runtime of two and a half hours and the nervous gaze of an audience finally showing signs of Marvel-fatigue on them, director James Gunn has his work cut out for him. Luckily, the man who took a handful of D-rate comic book characters and made them beloved icons of the MCU shows no signs of stumbling. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a perfect conclusion to the story, a heartbreaking goodbye, and a satisfying farewell that still put a smile on my face as I left the theatre. In the aftermath of The Infinity Wars, the Guardians have settled into an uneasy life on Knowhere. Quill wastes his days
-
Blogit
Peter Pan & Wendy is a bold and thoroughly lovely retelling of a classic
I really like David Lowery as a director. He takes wild swings that don’t always connect, but sometimes it’s the swing itself that matters. Such is the case with Peter Pan & Wendy, a loose adaptation of the animated Disney film, but also a retelling and new contextualization of J.M. Barrie’s timeless story. It’s a film at odds with itself. At once wild and free to explore the things its predecessors wouldn’t, but also gangly and awkward, as if uncertain of itself and all its potential. In a way, it’s a perfect metaphor for the teenage years our hero, Wendy, faces as her childhood comes to an end. Everything is still ahead, yet closing the door behind
-
Blogit
Citadel – Prime Video’s ambitious high-concept thriller is a blockbuster in disguise
You’ve got to admire the ambition. Citadel, Prime Video’s big gamble, isn’t just a streaming series. It’s multiple spin-offs in a multimedia franchise the creators say will encompass the entire planet. That’s a lot to throw in on a series, let alone an untested property. And after watching a little over half of the first season of the flagship series, I’m not sure it warrants all the bravado – some of it, but not everything. Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, both in peak James Bond audition mode, are the main draw here. As a leading pair, they’re effortlessly charming and entirely believable as cocksure superstar agents finally face-to-face with an enemy they can’t beat. If the serie
-
Blogit
Priyanka Chopra Jonas & Joe Russo talk about making Citadel stand out in the spy genre
I traveled to London last week to speak with Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Joe Russo about their latest project, the massively budgeted high-concept thriller series, Citadel. The invite, from Amazon, was to meet with some of the cast and crew and come see the first half of the new series, premiering later this week. As a sucker for anything involving spies, exploding helicopters, and big globe-trotting espionage, I couldn’t refuse the opportunity. Citadel is a big, showy adventure thriller about two spies, Mason Kane, and Nadia Sinh, who find themselves double-crossed and left for dead. Years later, they’re needed once again. But time has left wounds that can’t heal, and there’s more to fear tha
-
Blogit
Silo is Apple’s answer to LOST – and one of the best TV series in ages
In the age of streaming media, it’s almost impossible to reach the kind of zeitgeist that series like LOST tapped into. Not because the shows are worse; culture has just changed. TV isn’t as ubiquitous of a concept and not everyone subscribes to the same streaming services. But more than that, most series come out all at once, resulting in a sort of TV tribalism. Those who binged everything; and those who have to avoid spoilers. Silo feels like a return to that time in the best kind of way. It’s a smart, supremely confident sci-fi thriller that thrives on cliffhanger-driven episodes and a deftly constructed mythology, which unfolds at a deliberate, weekly pace. It is the perfect
-
Blogit
Dead Island 2 is like a high school reunion – for better and for worse
If you’re old enough to have gone to a high school reunion, you’ll recognize that one person who never outgrew their teenage years. At best, they’ve still got the same jokes and rough energy. At worst, they’re entirely unchanged, right down to their clothes and attitudes. Dead Island came out in 2011, which, in gaming terms, is a whopping long time. Back then, it wasn’t the peak of originality, either. While generally liked for its tropical getaway setting, desperate survival horror, and cynical, but effective marketing campaign, Dead Island wasn’t exactly a modern classic. So why, after a disastrous MOBA and numerous false starts, was it so important to bring the IP back some 12 years later
-
Blogit
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an unimaginative slog
It’s an old, but so far reliable adage, that game adaptations just don’t work. Every one of them just seems to tumble into the same pitfalls. The embarrassed self-mockery, as if the material was somehow beneath the filmmakers, the shameless advertising, and a disdain for anything resembling a coherent plot. As an audience, we know we’re being sold the extended franchise with the movie. But, gosh, just let us have fun with it at the same time. That’s what the first Lego Movie did. It knew we were all thinking about how this makes us want to play with LEGOS again, but that didn’t stop it from telling a good story in the process. It’s hard to say where The Su
-
Blogit
Tetris is an imperfect film about a perfect game
Tetris is a perfect game. Take any aspect from it, or add a new one in, and it loses something magical. In its highly refined finished form, it is as quintessential and eponymous with gaming as chess. In a way, that applies to the film Tetris as well. It’s the true story about the game’s creation in the depths of the Soviet Union, how it was stolen through skullduggery and lies, and how it was won back through tenacity and cunning, is incredible on its own. It is truth being stranger than fiction; it needs no embellishment. So when Tetris adds to that story, it becomes lesser in the process. The truth might not have car chases or an explosive finale straight from Argo, but it is
-
Blogit
Hitman: Freelancer is a superlative expansion of the franchise
When I first reviewed Hitman 3 back in 2016, I figured it was the last hurrah for our favorite bald assassin. After all, this was the culmination of the reboot trilogy, effectively bringing the story of Agent 47 and his handler, Diana Burnwood, to a close. Well, jokes on me, I guess, since Hitman hasn’t just endured, but expanded. Its latest update, Freelancer, is the next step in the behemoth World of Assassination the series now calls itself. Set in the aftermath of Hitman 3, Freelancer sees 47 and Diana strike out on their own in the world of international contract killing. With it comes a brand new safehouse, a variety of specialty tools, and a roguelike mission structure that̵
-
Blogit
Night Visions Back to Basics 2023 review roundup
Night Visions is nearly upon us once again, and I’ve screened a bunch of their selection in advance. Here are 13 films (with a few more reviews dropping soon) that should interest you next week as the festival kicks off. The Best of the Best The must-see films of the festival. These are the pictures that make Night Visions such a distinct and genuine pleasure to attend. Hundreds of Beavers – ★★★★★ In the vein of Buster Keaton, Looney Tunes, Benny Hill, Monty Python, and The Simpsons, comes this delightfully demented oddity from Wisconsin that defies all explanation. Set during the frontier era of the American west, Hundreds of Beavers plays like a demented version of The Revenant