Fanpicked Media
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Watcher and critic of movies, television, and streaming media. Helping you pick the media that's best for your consumption.
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Quick, when I say “animation,” what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?! Depending on what age you are, you probably either thought of Disney and Looney Tunes (in America, Mickey Mouse, and Bugs Bunny are like the grandfathers of animated mascots), or you thought of anime (the go-to series that come to mind are usually Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and Pokemon). Make no mistake about, animation is considered something only suitable to children. Yet, we live in a time when animated TV series aimed at adult audiences is at an all-time high, what with The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, South Park, and Rick and Morty being on the air.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Do as the Romas Do
There’s no way to get around it, Roma is an arthouse movie with a capital “A.” It’s a black and white movie, it’s spoken in a non-English language, it doesn’t feature any major movie stars, it’s long and slowly paced, its story is overly simplistic, and it features scenes that are meant to be symbolic, rather than have anything to do with the movie’s plot. So it’s only fitting that no American movie studio would make this film, and so Netflix, always in search for original content, was quick to make this film a reality. And sadly, this movie will probably only be remembered for being on Netflix, and not much else.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Oh Captain, My Captain
I must confess that I'm a ride or die Marvel fanboy, so to give a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie a less than stellar review is somewhat painful to me. Not that I haven’t done so before; as big a fanboy as I am, I can admit when an MCU movie falls short. Movies like Avengers: Age of Ultron and both of the installments of Ant-Man were underwhelming, while Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World are among the studio’s worst offerings. Now we have the first MCU movie to have a female lead in Captain Marvel (everyone is ignoring the 2005 failure that was Elektra), and to quote Immortan Joe, it was “mediocre.”
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Starstruck
If I may be brutally honest, I don’t like remakes. Having grown up during the 80s and 90s, I’m accustomed to wildly original ideas being made directly for the big screen. For the past 20 years, we’ve been fed a steady diet of remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels, and adaptations of everything from comic strips to board games to amusement park rides. And 90 percent of the time, the remake is always inferior to the original. It’s all about taking the same plot points of the original movie and then sprinkling in modern day slang, technology, and fashion. It’s uninspiring, uncreative, and done for a quick and lazy payday. So when a remake is actually good, and I admit it’s good, then yeah, it must be damn good! Which brings us to this new version of A Star Is Born, the third remake of this story (fourth if you count the Bollywood movie Aashiqui 2).
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Just Browsing
In this day and age of the internet and social media, the movie industry has been struggling to find a means of connecting to younger generations of moviegoers, and yet, these youngsters only end up looking at their cell phones and talking like they are in their living room (there’s a special place in hell for these people). The found footage boom happened after the success of Paranormal Activity, no doubt designed to emulate the look and feel of a YouTube video. Then there was Unfriended, a horror movie that took place entirely through a Facebook Live chat. And of course, there’s Black Mirror, a Twilight Zone-inspired show that is a series of technophobic tales of terror, trying to warn us all about how “technology is of the Devil and will be the downfall of humanity!” It’s all gimmicks, if you ask me. But what about the independent and arthouse wing of the filmmaking business? What offerings do they have that might take the concepts of the digital age and apply them to storytelling? The answer is Searching.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Round 8
Much like its namesake character, the Rocky franchise can’t be kept down. Just when you think it has come to a grand finale, a new sequel is made. To be honest, while I think the original Rocky is a masterpiece of significant cultural importance, everyone admits that the series became a parody of itself with each new addition. Rocky 5 is universally seen as the worst movie of the bunch, and Rocky Balboa was kinda pointless and is seen as a cash grab. Sorry, but I felt that movie should have ended with Rocky dying in the ring, as that would be the only fitting send off to his character. Thankfully, the only good thing that came from Rocky not dying is that we have this new spin-off series in Creed, which breathed new life into the four decade old franchise.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
It Will Rock You
When it comes to musical acts, there are two kinds of people. There are those who swear up and down that the Beatles were the single greatest thing that happened to music, and those are do not believe that hype. I am of the latter. Yes, the Beatles made some nice music, but the greatest ever, I don’t think so. Am I saying that Queen was the greatest musical act of all time? No, but they made great songs. In my humble opinion, there isn’t any debate over who the greatest frontman to a band was, is, or ever will be; and the answer is Freddie Mercury.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Crazy, Cool, Fun
Romantic comedies are among the biggest hit or miss genres, of movies to make. They have to be finely crafted, in order to work. If all goes well, you get an instant classic, that is remembered, quoted, and made reference to decades later, like When Harry Met Sally… but if there’s any hiccups or missteps, you get an unfunny, and forgotten mess of a Golden Razzie Award winner, like All About Steve. I can safely say that, while Crazy Rich Asians may not be the instant classic that When Harry Met Sally... is, it sure is an entertaining movie, that might find a strong cult following.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Big Eyes, Little Payoff
I’ve been a fan of Japanese pop culture since before I knew what Japan was. I loved Voltron as a child of the 80s, but I didn’t know it was a heavily edited version of a Japanese anime, called Beast King GoLion. I figured the animators were just too lazy, or the animation studio was too cheap, to properly time the lips of the characters to match what they were saying. Thanks to anime watching blocks like Cartoon Network’s Toonami, anime found a fanbase here in America, including creating beloved followings for series like Cowboy BeBop, that were otherwise overlooked in Japan. And anime inspired movies like The Matrix, only cemented the format as something that can be highly profitable.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
Who Am I and What Are My Articles About?
Who am I? No, that is not a vague reference to the essay writing subplot of the John Hughes classic, The Breakfast Club (the greatest teen movie ever made, my opinion). Nor it is referencing the Jackie Chan movie of the same name. If you are reading my articles, be it intentionally or by happenstance, I believe it’s only fair to properly introduce myself and explain what I’m doing here. So, my fellow cinephiles, my fellow movie buffs, my fellow movie critics and movie producers, let’s all go on a cinematic journey together.
By Fanpicked Media7 years ago in Geeks
