Warner Bros. are trying to be relevant with their DC Extended Universe. Whether or not they're successful in that regard is debatable, but their plan is obvious; cash in on the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe using the already incredibly popular properties under their belt, such as Batman and Superman. ...

Finding Dory is a good film. It may even be a great one. However, beneath the innocent facade it establishes in its generally tightly written comedy, emotionally charged character development, and detailed, fluid animation, there is an unfortunate degree of corporate control and artificiality pervading an otherwise artistically accomplished movie. ...

The feeling that pervades Captain America: Civil War, the third film in the Captain America series, is one of melancholy. Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, being built on being sillier and livelier than other superhero movies of the time (Iron Man was released the same year as The Dark Knight), this is really the inevitable direction in which it would head. ...

Video games and films have never really gotten along. Ever since the 1980s, adaptations between mediums have been mostly reviled, from the infamous Atari game based on E.T. to the failed attempt at films based on Super Mario Bros., Double Dragon, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and countless other popular franchises. ...

Disney's track record as of late has given a newfound appreciation of the studio's work and style to a world that had grown exhausted by their inability to make anything worthwhile in a cinematic landscape overrun by newcomers such as Pixar, Dreamworks, and Blue Sky making films of higher popularity (and usually quality) than anything they were making in the 2000s. ...

Marvel Comics' Deadpool, as a cultural phenomenon, fascinates me. He is a character who, up until now, has only really received any attention in comics, yet he is also one of the most heavily marketed comic book characters in existence. The style of highly crass comedy and regular fourth-wall breaking that he utilizes creates an appeal that would have been impossible in any generation before the 90s, and, thanks to the internet, that appeal has spread to an alarming degree...

There is a scene in The Revenant, the latest film from Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, in which Leonardo DiCaprio stands in an abandoned church, or, rather, what remains of it. It is now barely recognizable rubble, a sanctuary lost to time and consumed by nature. ...

Star Wars is not a film series; it is a religion. The original trilogy is some of the most universally beloved pop culture in history, a work of art that, for many people, absolutely defines their perspective on narrative structure. However, what pervaded the fandom in the build-up to the newest film in the franchise was not optimism but cautious cynicism. ...

In 2013, director Ryan Coogler and lead actor Michael B. Jordan established a perfect chemistry with Fruitvale Station, a rich and powerful film that I consider one of the best from that year. The pair displayed an uncharacteristic genius for such early points in their careers, and I was thrilled to see where the two new voices would go in the future. With Creed, the latest film in the Rocky franchise, they show that they are some of the strongest new voices in film...

There is a danger in making a film, or any piece of art, about any kind of current events. When stripped of context, any statement will seem to be little more than an expression of bias and radical politics. That is not to say great art has never said anything of value concerning the time it was made in, but merely that there is a tightrope that must be crossed to get deliver the message with any kind of intelligence. ...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is, to this point, an entirely well-liked series of films by most people, myself included, which makes is rather painful to finally, after seven years of watching even the worst of these films be very good, watch as a Marvel Studios movie is legitimately bad...

I, like most people born in the 90s, grew up with Pixar's body of work, and there is definitely a level of nostalgia that I feel just from seeing their name pop up. From the ode to childlike imagination that is the Toy Story franchise to the celebration of family in Finding Nemo, from the joy in creativity and self-discovery in Ratatouille to the optimism of WALL-E, there's something universal in their films that never seems to go away. ...

Brian Wilson's work in The Beach Boys is often recognized as among the most important in the history of popular music, and rightfully so; critics and artists alike have been calling "Pet Sounds" and "SMiLE" masterpieces for decades, and their music in general is a staple of oldies stations everywhere. ...

The generation gap, while not a necessarily bad idea to explore, is a very nebulous concept, so trying to make an entire film center around it thematically can often feel like a simple repeat of information and ideologies that countless other, often better stories have given us many times before. ...

I do not believe there is anyone alive who cannot enjoy a bildungsroman; no person can find the situations or characters truly unrelatable because everyone has experienced a coming-of-age in some way and everyone has matured at some point in their life. ...

This movie is incredible. Matthew Vaughn, whose two previous directorial features, Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class, rank among my favorite modern action films, absolutely knows what he's doing, that much I already knew, but, watching Kingsman: The Secret Service, I was in awe of the fact that he knows what he's doing to such an extreme, intricate extent. ...

Martin Luther King, Jr. is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. His speeches are quoted often, there is a national holiday recognizing him, and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone in America who can't tell you who he was...

It seems ironic to me that "inspirational" movies are the ones that so often fill me with pessimism; the films where some common man overcomes a generic tragedy, often through some type of spiritual awakening or divine intervention, are the most disgustingly artificial releases from Hollywood. ...

In 1989, Tim Burton's Batman became one of the iconic films of the decade, heavily due to the performance from lead actor Michael Keaton. Although Keaton is very much a prestigious actor with various performances, there is no doubt that the caped crusader stands out as perhaps his most well-known and mainstream role to date. ...