[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/departed.mp3] Among other things, The Departed hammers home the lesson of not judging a book by its cover. For a long time, I considered Leonardo DiCaprio an actor that got by on looks rather than talent. Mostly this was due to how unimpressed I was by the acting in general in Titanic. That happened in… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Departed
Category: Netflix
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Grandma's Boy
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/grandmas.mp3] Here’s some free advice for anyone looking to become a critic: be prepared to experience things you don’t like. If you just write up reviews of things you like, you’re a reviewer, not a critic. I know I’ve fallen into this trap, and I’ve touched on it before, in this very series, so I’ve… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Grandma's Boy
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Brokeback Mountain
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/brokeback.mp3] Here’s a fun fact you might not have known about me. I grew up in house full of women. It was my mother and my two sisters, and when I was a young boy my grandmother moved in with us as well. Being surrounded by women, it’s probably no surprised I was exposed to… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Brokeback Mountain
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Dark City
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/darkcity.mp3] In the course of writing this review, things have gone on a lot longer than I thought they would. So I’m not going to waste any more of your time than necessary today, folks. It’s way too nice outside in eastern Pennsylvania, anyway. So, without further adieu, here follows my review of Dark City,… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Dark City
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Ghost in the Shell
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/gits.mp3] Back in the days of the late 80s and early 90s, when the excess of the previous decade were giving way to the ‘edgy’ goth culture that emerged to dominate a lot of the media in the next – The Crow, Spawn, A Nightmare Before Christmas, etc – America was getting its first real… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Ghost in the Shell
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Avatar
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/avatar.mp3] Some of the best stories out there are simple stories that are well-told. A straightforward plot doesn’t necessarily make for a bad escapist experience, if there are elements of that plot that transcend its simplicity. Take District 9, for example. Aliens come to Earth in bad shape and they’re exploited by corporate douchebags. Simple,… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Avatar
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Octagon
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/octagon.mp3] Ninja… I wasn’t sure I was going to be doing this. Reviewing a Chuck Norris film from 1980 involves two problems. One is that diehard fans of the martial arts genre might chalk a lot of the problems with The Octagon up to different standards of production and fight choreography from 30 years ago.… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Octagon
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Adaptation.
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/adaptation.mp3] In case you didn’t know, writing is difficult. It’s grueling on an intellectual level, isolating on a social level and ultimately unrewarding in terms of both criticism and payment. Despite the banality of their works, Stephenie Meyer and Dan Brown are rarities, in that they’ve managed to make fortunes for themselves (and, in Ms.… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Adaptation.
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Predator
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/predator.mp3] Monster movies. People just love monster movies. Back in the 30s, the monsters were mostly human in appearance, with Dracula and The Mummy setting the stage for what came after. The 50s saw the type of monsters growing into the more surreal, with The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Them! and It Came From… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! Predator
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Fifth Element
[audio:http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/uploads/fifth_e.mp3] Originality is a rare commodity in movies these days. Adaptations, remakes and wholly derivative works clog the cinemas and jostle one another in cajoling you for your money. There was a time when an original spectacle didn’t have to count on a phrase like “You have to see it in 3-D to get the… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Fifth Element
