Author Archives: Diego Crespo

Freelancer with never as much free time as I'd like. It all works out.

THOR: God of Thunder and Humility

Thor is director Kenneth Branagh’s sweeping fantasy film and character epic. It’s a superhero movie focused on the truest form of heroism: selflessness. Thor is a literal god, played by hyper-masculine and disarmingly handsome Chris Hemsworth. We know he can throw down with the best of them. However, he lacks humility. The first lines we hear from a young Thor are him as a child, mistaking power for worthiness. “When I’m king, I’ll hunt the monsters down and slay them all!” To which Odin, father and king replies, “A wise king never seeks out war, but he must always be ready for it.” Of course Thor plows through countless enemies, even gigantic beings of frost and war. It’s all he understands. Thor’s journey isn’t one of achieving physical strength, but one of embracing humility.Continue reading “THOR: God of Thunder and Humility”

MIAMI VICE: Heavy Skies & Fabricated Identity in Media Res

In the original Miami Vice (1984 – 1990), mood and atmosphere were favored over conventional plotting to justify a meditative state. The 2006 adaptation followed suit, but rather than display its presentation on traditional 35mm film stock, director-writer Michael Mann opts to capture the fabric of aughts Miami with an experimental digital look. The heavy noise of early digital continues the trajectory Mann dabbled with during the filming of Collateral and Ali. The immediacy has an almost fourth-wall breaking quality; our eyes recognize the images as something authentic, but everything within the audio/visual frame informs us of its alien nature; a heightened but tangible view of a world just outside our own.Continue reading “MIAMI VICE: Heavy Skies & Fabricated Identity in Media Res”

ALIEN: ISOLATION – Best Alien Game, Best Direction for the Franchise

The Alien franchise is as amorphous and adaptive as the black goo from which its nefarious creatures were birthed. Throughout the six mainline entries in the film series, each one has its own aesthetic and thematic goals, all while moderately adhering to the general structure of the first film. Aliens is Alien but MORE. Alien 3 is Alien but with David Fincher’s nihilism. Alien: Resurrection is a clusterfuck of artists Joss Whedon and Jean Pierre-Jeunet. Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, while still Ridley Scott films, still contain the director’s new-age ferocity and operatic grandstanding, and each one finds distinct approaches to controversial material. No two films provide the same experience.

Alien: Isolation doesn’t so much present a different cinematic experience as much as it delivers the experience of the definitive Alien game.
Continue reading “ALIEN: ISOLATION – Best Alien Game, Best Direction for the Franchise”

The Diego Not-Oscars-But-Still-Awards

Woof. Movies. amiright?

Awards season is usually a disaster but this year feels extra apocalyptic, especially since the year prior felt… good? Like a step forward at least. In terms of not just representation, but movies that people actually giving a shit about receiving recognition. The nominees got weirder in a fun way. And Guillermo Del Toro took home Best Picture so hell yeah. This year felt like leaps backwards, with the occasional surprising picks. Some were even deserved! Whatever, the people currently in charge of the Academy are among the lowest quality of dumbassery. So I’ll just share my picks.Continue reading “The Diego Not-Oscars-But-Still-Awards”

50 Favorite Movies of 2018

Look, this is my blog and I can post whatever I want. 2018 was a fascinating year for movies. Smaller films fared much better than the big blockbuster stuff (especially in comparison to 2017, which had some all-timers). It’s a list of 50 movies so I’m not going to break them down, but I’ll probably do my picks for the Academy Awards on Sunday morning.

So let’s get to it. In alphabetical order: 50 of my favorite movies of 2018. Yell at me about it on twitter.Continue reading “50 Favorite Movies of 2018”

MY FAVORITE MOVIES: CLOVERFIELD

The Monster: Cloverfield isn’t really about the monster. It’s not even really about a monster attack. The 2008 J.J. Abrams-produced, Drew Goddard-penned, and Matt Reeves-directed project operates as a film about how small and insignificant we are in the grand scope of things. In Lovecraftian fashion, people are inconsequential to the disaster and giant terrors ever-present in the corners of our world and existence.Continue reading “MY FAVORITE MOVIES: CLOVERFIELD”

VENOM MOVIE REVIEW: WHAT?

None of you are ever allowed to say bad things about Spider-Man 3 again.

Note: This review was written under the influence of several beers and one Monster Energy drink in order to best approach the mindset of Venom’s marketing. Drink responsibly.

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have had a mantra in their writer’s room to never allow “and then” into their storytelling. The principle behind this is in stories being more than just a series of bullet-points. Every story is about people committing to actions, those actions having a consequence; rinse, repeat throughout history. Or rather, that’s how most good stories are told.

You may be asking yourself “why is this writer bringing up an outdated, formerly-clever hot topic of pop culture?” It’s because we need to talk about Venom. Continue reading