You know that a tough young woman means business when she chops off her long, flowing hair with a pair of dull scissors. Of course, when it happens in the movies, such a cut just ends up looking salon-cute, instead of alarming with a hint of cray-cray. But that is where Insurgent picks up. Tris …
Don’t get me wrong… I’ve really liked the Hunger Games series so far. In fact, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire both made my Top Ten Movies of the year when they were released. But Mockingjay – Part 1 suffers (like The Hobbit movies) from stretching a story too thin to justify two stand-alone movies, …
Set in a dystopian future (that old chestnut!) and based on the YA book of the same name (yes, another one!), The Maze Runner centers on a young man named Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), who’s been mysteriously jettisoned via subterranean elevator to a completely walled community – called The Glade – of other boys, all of …
It is not writer Lois Lowry’s fault that it took 20 years for her acclaimed YA book The Giver to make it to the big screen. It’s not her fault that within this time, the teen dystopian trend makes The Giver looks like a rehash of many movies that have come before it in the …
There is a lot to like about Snowpiercer, and there is a lot to forgive it for. Some initially dismissed it as “Hunger Games on a train,” or some other derivation of the latest trend towards dystopian films. But Snowpiercer is based on a French graphic novel from the early 80s. Who is ripping off …
I often think the quality of genre specific books can be judged by the universality of their appeal. If a person who isn’t especially well versed or even that interested in the subject matter can pick it up and enjoy a something that’s essentially written for diehard fans, then I kind of feel like you’ve …
World Gone Wild: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies Read More »
Setting: Dystopian Chicago—the buildings are decrepit, the water of the lake and the Chicago River seems to have retreated, and there is a tall electric wall built around the city. At some point since war basically destroyed the former way of life, it was decided that in order to live in peace and order, people …
Babylon A.D. has an interesting sci-fi premise, mixing religious hope with what looks like the end of the world, features a bunch of cool international actors (like Michelle Yeoh and Charlotte Rampling), and stars a thuggish action star (Vin Diesel) for those who need and want to see shit blowing up. But the story is …
People who know me well know that I love me a good disaster movie. Sometimes I even love me a BAD disaster movie, like The Day After Tomorrow. I don’t care how implausible it is that Dennis Quaid can walk on snowshoes, from Philadelphia to New York City, surviving face-shattering freezing weather, wolves, and collapsing …
A lot has happened since The Hunger Games. Jennifer Lawrence won an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook, and proceeded to charm the world with her smarts, self-effacing humor and her sass–not to mention her willingness to call BS on Hollywood. In the meantime, Hollywood had its annual falling-all-over-itself moment, marveling that a female protagonist could …