Thursday, May 26, 2016

The Wolverine l Celebrating X-Men Week

I have loved X-Men since I was a child watching the original 90s animated series. I was always drawn to the characters and their struggles with their own inner power, as well as misunderstanding from the outside world.

Since Bryan Singer's first X-Men film in 2000, I have also loved the movie franchise. Well cast and with the exception of a couple of bad eggs (*cough* The Last Stand *cough* X-Men Origins: Wolverine) fantastically executed. My favorites are as follows:

1. X2 
2. First Class
3. X-Men
4.  The Wolverine
5. Days of Future Past

My post for First Class remains the highest viewed post on my site to this day. Can't believe that was FIVE years ago! Time is flying...

Reel World Theology and company have done a series for X-Men Week to build up toward the release of X-Men: Apocalypse this weekend. I got to write about The Wolverine, and it was great to watch it again. Please check out my post and all the others for X-Men Week!

Review | The Wolverine

 


 

Monday, May 16, 2016

Podcast: The Shawshank Redepmption

Yay! I love doing podcasts and was honored to do another one with Reel World Theology. This is for a series called Reel World Rewind in which we discuss "older" films over about 30 minutes.

Shawshank Redemption is one of my absolute favorite films. It still hits me hard every time I see it. Give a listen and let us know what you think of it and the others in the series!

Reel World: Rewind #004 – The Shawshank Redemption

 

 


Monday, May 9, 2016

FLASH REVIEW: Captain America: Civil War



It's time to implement something new here on Reel Cathedral

For the past year I've been posting on the Facebook page some short reviews or responses to current films when I'd like to comment, but perhaps not write a full analysis.


I am going to shift and start posting these Flash Reviews on the website directly. I'm happy to say this first one is for Captain America: Civil War, and even happier to say that it's from a new guest writer Tyler Logwood. Tyler also lives in Arizona and is probably the biggest Marvel fan I know. Here's what he had to say about the film...



Marvel continues to fire on all cylinders serving up yet another solid superhero mashup of epic proportions and solid performances from the characters we've grown to love. 

This film feels like what the Avengers 2 should have been. Yes, there are many heroes in the film, and sometimes the film feels like it's getting close to an ensemble picture (Avengers 2.5), but it does a well enough job at reminding the viewers that this is indeed a Captain America story. 

As Captain America: The Winter Soldier changed the MCU, Civil War will also change the world these heroes occupy. Coming into it, I was very concerned as to how much the film would borrow from the Civil War comic. I'm glad that the film is actually its own unique story and only taking some story beats from the comic. Tom Holland as Spider-Man and Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther both have scene-stealing appearances, and they will each have solo films, which I can't wait to see given their performances in Civil War.

There are many moments of pure geek awesomeness to be had. Some scenes are ripped right off the comic pages, but at the core of all the epic and exciting set pieces, Civil War is a film about friendship and what are you willing to do for that friendship. Downey and Evans fall back into their respective roles and bring all the emotion necessary to provide a compelling story between our heroes. 

In my book, Captain America: Civil War is the third best Marvel film behind Winter Soldier and the Avengers. Fans can rest easy now, knowing that Marvel continues to not disappoint and we have plenty more amazing stories on the way. Can't wait to see where our heroes will end up next!