Jump scares get a bad rap, primarily because filmmakers use them in cheap ways. The worst kind of jump scare – the kind that deserves scorn – are of the fake-out variety. As in: someone opens a closet door and a cat jumps out, or a completely harmless person suddenly pops into frame and the soundtrack blares for a second. These types of jump scares can hit the bricks. But there are good jump scares. These are the ones designed to startle and shake you with genuinely scary moments, not faux distractions. David Bruckner‘s The Night House is full of several of these genuine jump scares – and boy oh boy are they effective. Read More »
In this edition of Theme Park Bits:
- Take a look at Disneyland’s new parade.
- See the site plan for a How to Train Your Dragon-themed area at Universal Studios.
- And more!
Read More »
When animation directors make the jump to directing live-action, the transition can be fraught. Just ask Andrew Stanton, whose live-action debut, John Carter, was a huge bomb for Disney several years ago. Thankfully though, Brenda Chapman, the director of Prince of Egypt and Pixar’s Oscar-winning Brave, successfully makes the leap with Come Away, a delightful fairytale that imagines what might have happened if Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland were siblings before they became the characters we know and love. Read More »
At the beginning of December last year, Marvel’s Tigra and Dazzler Show intended for Hulu had a shake-up behind the scenes that resulted in the firing of the showrunner and the entire writing staff of the animated series due to creative differences with Marvel. Now the show has been axed completely, and the Howard the Duck animated series that was also in the works is being thrown out the window too. Read More »
In 2015, A’Ziah “Zola” King launched a Twitter thread that began with a question: “Y’all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out? It’s kind of long but full of suspense.” Thus began a 100+ Tweet thread journey that went viral and chronicled a wild and crazy 48 hours involving stripping, sex trafficking, kidnapping, violence, and attempted suicide. It was too good to be true – but it was true. Well…some of it. Zola embellished several details, but Rolling Stone reporter David Kushner caught up with her – and the other characters in her tale – and was able to confirm much of it. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling.
Read More »
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising?
This week we go dead mall hunting, realize why some of us aren’t morning people, deconstruct a political mystery, get to know Lil Dicky a little better, and fight a drug company.
Read More »
Is Brother Voodoo in Doctor Stranger in the Multiverse of Madness? Did you know there are public domain superheroes? What video game is getting a Birds of Prey cross-promotion? Want to see an alternate concept design for the Rescue armor in Avengers: Endgame? How excited was The Eternals star Kumail Nanjiani to eat pizza and cake after being on a Marvel diet? All that and more in this edition of Superhero Bits. Read More »
Writer/director Justin Simien premiered his feature film debut Dear White People at Sundance in 2014, and later went on to adapt that movie into a Netflix streaming series. Now he’s back at the festival with something completely new: an ‘80s-set horror thriller about a killer weave. Read More »
I’ve written before that I found it concerning that there is so little time now to flesh left out the major conflicts of Star Wars Resistance. Which is why “Rebuilding the Resistance,” which can be considered a penultimate chapter before the two-parter series finale, pulls off an impressive feat as it picks up on the slack of more underwhelming developments of the past season.
Read More »
Cool Posts From Around the Web:
The weather is a bit warmer, but it’s still so much better to cozy up in the living room and watch some movies and TV shows from the comfort of your own home. Thankfully, Netflix has a new batch of titles coming to their library in February 2020, including some old favorites and a slew of new originals you’ll want to check out. Get a rundown of the best TV shows and movies coming to Netflix below, and schedule your life accordingly. Read More »
