Awesome Movies

Joaquin Phoenix plays the late cartoonist John Callahan. A car accident left Callahan a quadriplegic at age 21. Already an avid drinker, he turned to the bottle to save himself. But along the way, he also discovered his talent for making funny cartoons. Premieres 5/11/18.

(Spoilers) A look at some of the visual effects used in Guillermo Del Toro’s wonderful film, and how VFX artists used green screen, CGI, and other techniques to not only create the amphibian man, but to magically transport viewers in place and time.

Did you know that Thor: Ragnarok had the awesome title Mighty Thor: Battle Royale in Japan? Abroad in Japan looks at this and 20 other movies which had oddly translated titles, some which worked better than others. We love Phantom Thief Gru and the Moon Theft.

Jon Hamm stars as a U.S. diplomat in 1982 who gets caught between a rock and a hard place. He’s tasked to negotiate the release of his colleague from the terrorist group that killed his wife, in exchange for the release of a deadly terrorist leader. Premieres 4/13/18.

“Every human being is a puzzle of need. You must become the missing piece, and they will tell you everything.” Jennifer Lawrence stars as a Russian spy specializing in seduction and manipulation. Her loyalties are tested when she falls for a CIA agent. Premieres 3/2/18.

(SPOILERS) Jack’s Movie Reviews made this great summary of the underappreciated Blade Runner 2049. He looks at how Joe, Luv, Deckard and the other main characters serve as answers to the movie’s central question: what it means to be human.

(PG-13: Language) John Cena and Leslie Mann play neighbors who find out that their respective daughters plan to lose their virginity on prom night. They’re willing to do anything to stop that from happening. We dare you to watch this with your family.

The movie Downsizing might have come up a little short in both its reviews and box office take, but it did succeed in the VFX department. Here, the film’s effects supervisor Jamie Price walks us through the history of shrinking people down on the big screen.

(PG-13, Gore) CineFix picks its top five most innovative and unique films of all time. Whether its technological pioneers, or ones with left field stories, arresting presentations, uniquely cinematic or utterly experimental.

“Death – it’s like it moves in and never leaves.” After the death of her husband, a woman and her son move in to a relative’s vacation home, which is currently being sold. And there might be a good reason why they’re selling the place. On Netflix starting 1/19/18.

Pop Chart Lab’s scratch-off chart is a great way for cinephiles to check which of the classics they’ve already seen. The poster measures 18″x 24″ and contains tiny posters of 100 great films, including The Best Years of Our Lives, Do the Right Thing and Spirited Away.

(SPOILERS) Dunkirk is already an exercise in minimalism. But Like Stories of Old wanted to push the boundaries and see if it could work as a traditional and short silent film. The soundtrack and speed are jarring at first, but the result does feel like a complete film.

“They brought you into this world. Now they’ll take you out.” The world turns to chaos for 24 hours because of a global mass hysteria where parents start murdering their own children. Nicolas Cage stars in the Home Alone for millennials.

Celebrate some of the best and brightest films of the year with this excellent supercut from CLS Videos. The reel features great movies like Blade Runner 2049, Get Out, Baby Driver, and The Shape of Water, backed by a duo of great tracks by musicians Sparks and Nena.

ScreenPrism talks about the reasons why romantic couples never last long in the Star Wars films. Whether it’s because the characters are too busy, noble or narcissistic, it seems the Force doesn’t want lovers to last.

“Everything has a price. The great struggle in life is coming to grips with what that price is.” Nope, that’s not Frank Underwood. And it’s not Kevin Spacey as oil tycoon Jean Paul Getty anymore. Christopher Plummer replaced the fallen star in Ridley Scott’s reshot biopic.

(SPOILERS) Star Wars: The Last Jedi has several major themes. But ScreenPrism argues that it has two main subjects that are implied in its title. One is the demystification of the past, and the other is the meritocracy of greatness.

This Blu-ray box set features Christopher Nolan’s last seven movies – The Prestige, the three Dark Knight films, Inception, Interstellar, and Dunkirk – remastered in 4K with HDR support. It also comes with discs for 1080p versions of the films as well as bonus features.

“What in god’s name is anybody gonna write to that?” Singer-songwriter Carol Connors spoke with Academy Originals about how they came up with Gonna Fly Now, the theme song for Rocky that has become inseparable with the movie and its famed museum steps scene.

More and more movies are being adapted from other forms of art, whether they be novels, plays or comic books. CineFix presents some of the best adaptations before picking its top five. And yes, Charlie Kaufman’s meta-adaptation makes the cut.

“No rules this time.” Oscar winners Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro reprise their roles in the sequel to the tense Sicario. When drug cartels begin trafficking terrorists across the US-Mexico border, the American government unleashes mercenaries to fight back.

The Mother Box. The Ark of the Covenant. R2-D2. These are examples of a MacGuffin – something that the characters in a movie worry about but for which the audience doesn’t care, at least not at first. Just Write outlines five ways that it can be used to good effect.

Directed by Clint Eastwood, The 15:17 to Paris is an adaptation of a book about the 2015 Thalys train attack, in which three Americans risked their lives to subdue a gunman who opened fire in their train. Those same heroes star as themselves in the movie.