Category: Movies
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Inspiration for the Cauldrons at Kamar-Taj in Dr. Strange in Multiverse of Madness
In Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Strange and America Chavez are on the run from the Scarlet Witch, and they naturally seek refuge at the Kamar-Taj. This fictional place in Katmandu, Nepal is where Strange and other sorcerers trained. There is plenty to look at in the set, which is a hodgepodge…
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Medievalism on Screen: An Annotated Bibliography
Although the field of medievalism on screen is fairly young, there is already a massive amount of work on the topic in English alone. By medievalism, I am referring to recreations or evocations of the Middle Ages, purposefully or unwittingly. By screen, I am referring to movies, television, and short form content. I’m maintaining this…
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What’s the Point of Judging Medieval Films for Accuracy?
Public opinion varies on the value of judging anachronisms in medieval films. When I analyzed some depictions of trebuchets in medieval and fantasy films, Internet opinions ranged from “who fucking cares” to “oh, that’s interesting” (actual quotes from social media). Academic opinion varies as well, but the general consensus tends to be that judging a…
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War is Hell: A Military History of Hellraiser
The Hellraiser franchise features some of the most unforgettable imagery, even if you haven’t seen a single film. Pinhead is a pop-culture icon who sits comfortably alongside Freddy Kruger and Jason. My parents wisely kept me away from these movies as a child, but in my rebellious 30’s, I have watched them with an initial tongue-in-cheek…
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Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I, Military Theory, & Empire Strikes Back
After seeing The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I, I have not stopped thinking about the movie, mulling over the events and concepts, the sure sign of a good movie. Unlike the book purists out there, I have not read the series and I do not care how closely the movies stick to the book…
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Movie Review: War Horse
Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is a different type of war movie that focuses on animals instead of people. The following are some thoughts with no plot spoilers. The most important aspect is the main character–the horse. Although there are people in the movie, the horse gets the most screen time. The movie works hard to…
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Movie Review: Flyboys
Against all odds, I went to see Flyboys. The critics hated it, my wife refused to go, and all of my friends had better things to do. That is, all of my friends except poor Derek. He was as dumb as me and had nothing to do on a Sunday night. We both left our…
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Learn from The Matrix: Design Before You Code
The most important thing you can do to increase the success rate of a software project is to fully define the software before a single line of code is written. Fantasy Land While it sounds good on paper, this practice is something that only exists in my version of Fantasy Land. Deadlines, budgets, and excited…
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The Matrix Revolutions
Director: Wachowski Brothers Release Date: November 5th, 2003 Rating: R (for sci-fi violence and brief sexual content) See it on Amazon Most regular moviegoers have a rule about not getting too hyped about a movie to avoid the fear that they’ll be let down. And why shouldn’t they live in such a fear? So many…
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Matrix Reloaded Theory Three
The original Matrix starts with Trinity and Cypher talking, the screen shows “Trace Program” and the date “2-19-98”. The movie ends with Neo making a phone call, the trace program is initiated and the date reads “9-18-99″… 19 months have passed at this point (One year and seven months). The time sequence in the first…
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Hamann-Neo Reloaded Transcript
Some have suggested that he was the previous “One” before Neo. Others think he is just another old man in Zion. Either way, the conversation between Councillor Hamann and Neo on the engineering level gives some food in The Matrix Reloaded. But the bigger questions arise afterwards: Is Councillor Hamann a previous “One”? It would explain…
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Merovingian Matrix Reloaded Transcript
The speculations have come from all angles as to who the Merovingian really is and what role he will play in The Matrix trilogy. Is he a previous one? Is he human? Or is he just a “very dangerous program” as the Oracle describes him. Whatever your view is, when Neo, Morpheus, and Trinity…