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Confessions of a Savage Mind

A collection of movie reviews and lists, original poetry, rants, and just whatever pops into my mind at the moment.

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Showing posts from July, 2016

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One Misunderstood Monkey

on July 26, 2016

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"Fear and Loathing in Our Nation"

on July 12, 2016

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What Kind of Movies Do You Like? An Essay

People often ask me, "Greg what types of movies do you like?" I traditionally have come up with two answers. One of which is, "Good ones." The other equally acerbic response is, "Yes." But what does this mean when I refuse to divulge any information? Let's dive in to what it means. Genre to me is such a dull categorization of film. Yes different types of movies are created to evoke different emotions. For example, horror movies are designed to make you scared. Comedy movies are crafted by writers with the hopes of making you laugh. Many films only have one layer or purpose. They are only designed to create one emotion within you. Martin Scorsese was correct in the criticism of Marvel and other blockbuster tent pole based movies. They are are simple escapism that are usually entirely formulaic. This isn't me saying they are not cinema. I wouldn't dare to try and create such a gate-keeping position for myself as a critic. What I am he

Captain Marvel Review

T he Marvel Cinematic Universe reached it's crowning apex with Avengers: Infinity War . The film left comic book fans and causal viewers devastated by the snap of Thanos. Just when all hope had seem abandoned in the MCU, the post-credits sequence teased the appearance of Captain Marvel. Oscar-winner Brie Larson signed on to play the hero in the first female-centered superhero movie. Anticipation was high and filled with great controversy before the actual release of the film. After being the nerd I am and going to the first possible showing, I am here to tell you that I was somewhat pleased with the results. Captain Marvel is a somewhat mixed bag of genres. It uses some aspects of a neo-noir, such as lost memories, a lack of trust in all characters, and a bad-ass femme fatale. Using a poor man's Memento -like plot, the film pieces together who really is the character we see on the screen. It also uses aspects of buddy cop films with the relationship wit

Us Review

Jordan Peele is a great Hollywood success story. From Mad TV to Key & Peele, he was seen as one of television's great minds. However, his most mainstream success came in the release of the social horror/thriller Get Out. The film was seen as a welcome departure from Peele's comedic stylings, and earned him an Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay. The expectations were set high for Peele's next film Us . Little was known about the film prior to release, except that it had a larger budget and starred Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o. What Peele chose to deliver was...interesting. Us follows a young African American family as they take a vacation to Santa Cruz. The matriarch of the family, Adelaide Thomas is a woman haunted by her PTSD. How she leads her family is directly impacted by her traumatic past. Her family is then haunted by her worst fear: a soul-less, doppelganger version of her family. The film begins on the common intruder/sl

Toy Story 4 Review

The Toy Story series is noted as one of the most groundbreaking and innovative animated series of all time. Toy Story was the first fully computer generated animated feature film. The second film was another solid entry in the series. The third movie was he only animated sequel to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. John Lassester, the now ousted head of Pixar was quoted as saying, "We don't want to do anything with [these characters] unless it lives up to or surpasses what's gone before." Does Toy Story 4 live up to those expectations? The short answer is...yes. What amazes me about Pixar is their ability to create a spectacular suspension of disbelief. Using the original writers of the series, they are able to create a world that is so easy for the viewer to get sucked into. Following the story and character arcs of Woody, Buzz, and the other toys becomes a full-time, emotional investment. I think this is primarily due to the chronologic

10 Underrated Movies You Should Watch for Spooktober

It's about the time again witches and ghouls! You will see tons of lists of the "essential" Halloween movies. They usually have the same entries, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas , Halloween , Hocus Pocus and other traditionally great horror or slasher films. What I'm here to tell you about are some movies you may not have seen that are either creepy, crawly, or just a lot of spooky fun. Without further ado, here are ten films from various periods of cinema that you should check out. 1. Freaks (1932) At the height of horror in the 1930s and 1940s, Universal ruled the monster pic genre. With entries such as Tod Browning's Dracula and James Whale's Frankenstein , the genre was monumentally successful. These films were also the closest thing to a cinematic universe as that era had. The outlier in these films was the previously mentioned Browning's Freaks . Freaks is one of those movies that maintain insanely insulting while also being i

Fucking: An Acrostic Poem

F ears leave me, as I watch you U ndress the coverings ; revealing the masterpiece. I C aress your hair gently when you lay on top while K idnapping all of your thoughts that are not about I ndulging each our fantasies till you are N ear the point of completion and then G ently kiss you through the night.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Review

The fact that the Pirates of Caribbean franchise is still going is astounding. After the first surprise hit entry in the franchise, the films have progressively gotten worse and worse. If anyone can give me a decent synopsis of On Stranger Tide s, I'll Venmo you $5. Regardless of shoddy critical reviews, the films have still made a gaggle of money every time a new one is released. I predicted this would be the film to sink the franchise in my summer movie preview . So, is this the restart the franchise desperately needed after six years off? That would be a strong no. Dead Men Tell No Tales has got to be the worst blockbuster I have seen in a long time. I can barely even call this a review, but more of a massacre of a movie that is purely horrdendous The film basically takes every plot structure from the original four movies and reuses them. The overuse of nostalgia for the original films drags this film down consistently. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp)

Black Widow Review

I'm finally back being a geek and getting to review Marvel movies! The last Marvel movie I even saw in theaters was Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was a whopping 2 years ago. Sure, there was a worldwide pandemic to blame for this, but let me bitch just a little longer! Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow was the founding female in the Marvel cinematic Universe. Starting off as an oversexualized badass, her character has evolved with a dismal romantic arc, light character development, and an untimely demise at the peak of Avengers: Endgame. Finally, the OG female gets her time to shine in this prequel/sequel entity that has been delayed approximately a bazillion times. Was the near year and a half wait worth it? Let's dive in... Black Widow is a middle of the pack action spy-thriller. It feels like a c-graded Mission Impossible with a nauseating motion camera. At times, it made me feel nauseous with how jerky the view could be. The story is acceptable, wi

15 Movies to Remind You It's Better to Be Alone

Valentine's Day, or for many of us, Singles Awareness Day (S.A.D) is upon us. There are so many movies that perfectly reflect cinematic love. We all know that one movie that made us believe in love in the purest form. For example: There are so many movies that focus on this form of sweet and carefree romance. It won't be hard to find such a movie for your significant other. Therefore, I do not need to write any recommendations. Being the cynical film writer I am, I wanted to focus on films that focus on messy, toxic, and problematic love. This article is meant to remind us singles that we should be grateful for our perpetual state of solitude. Here are my recommendations for the movies to kill your pheromones this V-Day. 1. Gone With the Wind (1939) Starting this list off this list right with a 4-hour Civil War epic is brilliant. There has never been a fictional heroine played on the screen as perfectly as Vivien Leigh plays Scarlett

Wake Up Mr. West!

It is no secret that I am both a mental heath champion and Kanye West aficionado. Kanye's music has been the soundtrack to a large majority my life. It almost seems as if his phases of creation are in perfect synchronicity with my journey here on Earth. However, recent events have shown that Kanye has been struggling greatly with his mental health. From the Saint Pablo Tour rants, to "slavery being a choice," to his presidential run, and finally his tweetstorm from last night, it is very concerning to be a Kanye fan these days. Though he is one of the most publicly criticized figures, Kanye is a truly very sick at the moment. Too many people take his actions at face value. Yes they are shocking and bizarre and he should be held accountable. That being said, dismissing the pathology behind his actions is archaic and simply incorrect. Kanye has been very open about his struggles with bipolar disorder. He has discussed how his believes his medication h

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