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Opinions and Commentary on the World, On Screen and Off.

Monthly Archives: April 2010

brewer_law

April 28, 2010
by Luke Goldstein
0 comments

Arizona moves out of the ‘Land of the Free’

Arizona recently enacted one of the most backwards and revisionist immigration laws in our country. The piece of paper the governor signed into practice states that the police are now under orders to pull over, question or otherwise force any person in the state that “looks to be an illegal immigrant” to immediately show proper documentation of their status as American citizens. Most pundits and newscasters have been referring to this as the “Papers, Please.” bill. While I do not personally live in Arizona, this is a dangerous game to begin because a number of other Southern states with more conservative leaning electorates are watching very closely as to whether this law will withstand the oncoming onslaught of civil liberty and constitutionality law suits. If it does, you can be assured you will see laws like this popping up all along the southern border and spreading upwards. Honestly, do they think every illegal immigrant just stops in the first border town? Continue reading →

kickass

April 28, 2010
by Luke Goldstein
0 comments

Kick-Ass – Non-Stop Costumed Insanity

It was only a matter of time until we reached this inevitable moment where the comic book stories started to move away from the radiation-powered heroes and villains to the non-mutant kids that actually read them. Every kid who turned those colorful paneled pages had those moments where they gazed out the window and dreamed of a world where they could fly, burn holes through walls using only their eyes and actually help the good people in the world (or maybe just rob banks, depending on the kid). In the end it was all about wanting to be more than they were – something extraordinary. For some, gaining that elusive feeling meant putting their heads down and burying themselves in study, research and grunt work until they were recognized as experts in their chosen field. Others put on flashy tights. Tomato, tomahto. Continue reading →

Clash-of-the-titans

April 16, 2010
by Luke Goldstein
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Clash of the Titans – A True Greek Tragedy

People kick and scream all the time about the desire and need for original story ideas and mostly I am right alongside them, but we shouldn’t count out remakes, relaunches and re-imaginings of classic films. They do serve a grand purpose to the cinema audience (as well as the movie studios whom get twice or thrice the bang for their original buck). Some of these films are far enough back in the annals of film history to be forgotten or completely unheard of by today’s film-going audience. In cases like these, a remake can actually help drive these younger audiences, or those who just missed it the first time around, backwards into the video shelves and dusty pages of their Netflix accounts to dig up these original works. Sometimes the originals are brilliant classics that should be viewed by all film lovers, while others were great concepts but poorly executed due to the technological restraints of the time period. Some, including a handful of my favorites, are so bad they run full circle into being good. In those particular cases, remakes usually fail to capture the novelty and attempt for a more serious and quality version of the original, thereby almost guaranteeing box-office failure. If you need some recent proof, let’s take a glance at the new version of Clash of the Titans. Continue reading →

how_to_train_your_dragon

April 9, 2010
by Luke Goldstein
1 Comment

How to Train Your Dragon – Dreamworks Slays, But Only Slightly.

In the last decade we have been increasingly spoiled by legendary quality in the animated film world. Pixar exploded onto the scene and suddenly changed our Sunday afternoon trip to the movies with our little ones from a chore to a joy. Parents all over the country were now dragging kids along to see cartoons the kids hadn’t even asked about yet. “Trust me, son. You haven’t seen Toy Story 1 or 2 yet, but you’ll pick it up quickly. Now stop running around or we’ll lose our place in line.” Those wonderment wizards behind the screen also took notice of the change in demographic and began to layer their fare with subtle and intelligent adult humor, making it possible (and now possibly common) to see a grown man or adult couple walking into one of these movies without a single child in tow. I applaud this shift in content because I believe it helps remind us all to be a kid ourselves time and again. Continue reading →