Not many younger fans know this, but once upon a time, before Marvel became another arm of Disney, Spider-Man was basically Mighty Marvel’s equivalent to Mickey Mouse. He was the most relatable, most accessible, and most liked hero, even when the company was as its worst. Easily the biggest movie of 2021, “No Way Home” is a glimpse in to what makes Spider-Man such a timeless hero and why so many people continue connect to our favorite Friendly Neighborhood Wallcrawler.
Tag Archives: Sequel
Beyond Fest’s Black Friday: George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” with Ken Foree In Person
In celebration of mass consumption and the grotesque gluttony, George A. Romero’s “Dawn of trhe Dead” gets a rare theatrical screening this Black Friday at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Joining for both a pre-screening introduction and post screening Q&A will be lead actor Ken Foree to share on-set stories and the importance of Romero’s enduring Magnum Opus.
The sequel to Romero’s landmark “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead” obliterated genre normas and shattered sensese jupon its release in 1978. A razor sharp social commentary on material society, Romero’s vision is fully realized in the collapsed civilization that he meticulously wrote, directed, and edited. With electric performances from Ken Foree, Gaylen Ross, David Emge and Scott Reiniger, and revolutionary special effects from the master Tom Savini, “Dawn of the Dead” remains an untouched masterpiece at the very peak of genre cinema.
Attendance to all Beyond Fest screenings requires physical proof of vaccinations and guests must follow mandatory mask mandates. Go to americancinematheque.com for details.
Ranking the Rocky Series: From Best to Worst
Being born in 1983, I grew up around the period where Rocky Balboa was a household name, and the movies were wildly popular. “Rocky” and the sequels are childhood favorites, and I very fondly remember watching the worn VHS copies on our VCR, and catching their airings on my local television station WPIX. With Stallone re-releasing “Rocky IV” this year with a brand new Director’s Cut, I thought it’d be fun to re-visit the original series and rank the entire franchise from best to worst.
Feel free to post your ranking in the comments.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)
Fans have long awaited the proper third film in the “Ghostbusters” series, and while it’s become very apparent that the original cast is much too old to carry the series further, “Afterlife” is a great step in to a new world. Like most legacy sequels of beloved movie series, “Afterlife” pays great reverence to the original, while also carving out a path for a new direction and brand new cast of ghost fighting heroes. While “Afterlife” is very light in laughs and levity, it stills comes out in the end as a fantastic follow up that clicks right in to the first two films beautifully.
Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago – The Ultimate Director’s Cut (2021) (Digital)
We’re in an age of modern filmmaking where audiences and even directors are demanding that studios allow them to re-cut their past works. In all of the director’s cuts and recuts I’ve seen, “Rocky vs. Drago” is exactly how the Director’s Cut should be done. I say that with immense surprise as I fully expected to dislike “The Ultimate Director’s Cut.” For fans that viewed “Rocky IV” religiously since 1985, when we get down to it, the film is recut to click better with “Creed II.” That’s either great or disappointing, depending on how you value the original 1985 film.
The Suicide Squad (2021) [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
After the wet fart that was David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” there was a lot riding on James Gunn’s soft reboot titled “The Suicide Squad.” While there was a lot of pressure on Gunn to deliver, it was no surprise that he did, two fold. This is a man who managed to take a fourth tier superhero team from Marvel Comics and turn them in to beloved superheroes everyone recognizes. With “The Suicide Squad” Gunn gets the ball rolling successfully with a wonderful soft reboot. Now it’s up to DC and Warner to keep the momentum.
Halloween Kills (2021)
Director David Gordon Green simultaneously delivers a sequel that does something completely new with “Halloween” and also promises to divide horror fans down the middle. There is no horror movie in 2021 that promises to polarize horror fans more than “Halloween Kills.” Rather than a movie that features Michael Myers killing, killing, and killing some more, David Gordon Green goes a different route and explores the fall out from his murder spree in 1978 and 2018.