Film
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘MORTAL KOMBAT’
A Head Smashing Good Time Mortal Kombat marks the return of the legendary video game franchise to the big screen for the first time in 24 years. Considering its wild success on consoles, the gap is hard to fathom. Certainly Annihilation sort of poisoned the well, but the 1995 original remains popular, as does its techno theme song. The one thing most would agree on, though, is that 95’s lack of an R-rating kept it from truly being a Mortal Kombat film. That is no longer an issue. 2021’s film boats buckets of blood, and gruesome fatalities that are as true to the game as is probably acceptable for theaters. This is the adaptation die…
-
MORTAL KOMBAT REVIEW: Rated M for Mediocre
It’s been 24 years since Mortal Kombat: Annihilation committed cinematic franchise Harakiri. In that span, there have been 11 entries in the video game series. I owned them all and the less said about a few of them, the better; but that’s not really the point of all this. We’re here to discuss Mortal Kombat. It’s finally back, and it’s actually brutal this time. That is one positive amongst a plethora of the not-so because the “M” in the title could just as easily have stood for muddled or messy or even mindless. Before we address those alliterative adjectives, let’s start at the beginning. Bi-Han/Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim) murders Hanzo Hasashi/Scorpion…
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘FIGHT CLUB – I am Jack’s Podcast’
Fight Club hasn’t aged well. And that’s putting it mildly. It wasn’t that David Fincher and company didn’t have something to say. Certainly, they did. It’s more that the message is muddled and often lost amidst the overpowering stardom of Brad Pitt. You cast a movie star, you get a virtuoso performance. That’s generally not an issue, but when the character is meant to represent the reprehensible, a conundrum ensues. Pitt’s Tyler Durden is a false prophet; we’re not supposed to think he’s cool; and his ramblings—though hovering around actual facts—are not meant to inspire. Most viewers are aware of this, but for some, that meaning was lost. Thus, the dangerous…
-
Mortal Kombat Review – A Flawless Victory? (Mike and John)
In the latest episode of Mike and John At The Movies, we discuss the new Mortal Kombat film! Is it a flawless victory, or do video game movies suffer from yet another fatality? We have the answers for you in our spoiler-free discussion. Mortal Kombat is in theaters now and available to HBO Max subscribers at no additional cost.
-
OFFICIAL: Slice of Film Joins WOBAM Entertainment!
WOBAM’s been through many phases of existence, and Katie Rentschler has been there through most of them. Having served as Deputy Editor and web designer for our site, she stepped away in 2019 to pursue other ventures like Full Circle Cinema, Geek Ultimate Alliance, Revenge of the Fans, and her own blog, Slicer Scribbles. Obviously we’ve stayed in touch, and what’s been exciting is watching Katie grow in these creative ventures. With WOBAM also experiencing a new and exciting phase of growth, the opportunity presented itself for us to work together again and offer a home for Katie’s podcast, Slice of Film. Part of the Geek Ultimate Alliance podcasting network,…
-
How Legendary Pictures Can #ContinueTheMonsterVerse After GODZILLA VS. KONG
Legendary Pictures successfully began an American-based Godzilla franchise in 2014, with its first film starring the iconic monster. The movie began the MonsterVerse, a shared cinematic universe that includes other monsters. It continued with 2017’s Kong: Skull Island (which rebooted King Kong) and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters (which also featured King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan). This has all led up to the release of the new film Godzilla vs. Kong, which pits the two titans against each other in a clash of the ages. Godzilla vs. Kong was a solid movie (check out our review here), and it has been adding some much-needed life to the box office.…
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: ‘PACIFIC RIM – A Jaeger Bomb’
Pacific Rim is Guillermo del Toro’s homage to the Kaiju movies that fascinated him in his youth. To that end, it is a lovingly crafted and often beautiful film that delivers on the promise of its premise. What is the conceit? Well, in short, Jaegers—giant Earth-protecting mechs—fight invading Kaiju who emerge from a rift within the Pacific Ocean. And for all the movie’s foibles—the plot has many—it does nail it’s most defining element. The fights, in fact, are so visually dazzling that it makes the laborious human moments with wooden Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) all the more painful. Speaking of those foibles, the humans—not just poor Raleigh—encompass a host of them.…
-
A Thousand Generations: Five Ideas to Refresh Star Wars
A Thousand Generations: Five Ideas to Refresh Star Wars Now that I’ve watched Mandalorian (and dived back into Star Wars The Old Republic) Star Wars is back on my radar and one thing I’ve noticed is things have gotten a little… Shall we say “contentious?” I’m not going to step on any third rails so don’t expect that, but there is a bit of a problem that I think there might be a relatively simple (simple doesn’t mean easy mind you) solution. There’s been eleven movies and counting, animated cartoons, television shows and more on the way. All of them take place within a hundred year period and essentially come…
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: GODZILLA VS KONG – Coming to a Universal Studios Near You
Godzilla vs Kong is a historic rivalry, yet it has been 59 years since these two giants of cinema last traded blows. That seems far too long, but fortunately for the “Monsterverse,” the timing couldn’t have been better. In our King of the Monsters (KotM) episode, Chumpzilla and I were bullish about the future of this series. We knew this movie would at least be made, but short of a miraculous run, KotM had sullied the stock. Turns out, we were wrong. In less than a week Godzilla vs Kong has grossed over $300 million worldwide, already nearing its predecessors totals. This comes amidst an ongoing global pandemic. Its reviews have also far surpassed that of KotM. It sits at…
-
Hops and Box Office Flops: HULK – The Incredible Sulk
Ang Lee’s Hulk is ponderous—absurdly so—and mostly revolves around the gruesome father/son relationship between Bruce (Eric Bana) and David Banner (Nick Nolte). Reportedly, Lee wanted the film to evoke the weighty emotions of a Greek tragedy. It certainly does generate a palpable response, but it’s apathy. For a movie whose title character is a big, green, rage monster, the Hulk is seldom seen for the first hour. When he does show up, he’s relegated to fighting mutant poodles with a penchant for crotch attacks. Now, I’m not saying this movie wasn’t ambitious because it certainly was. Unfortunately, all its aspirations are for naught; and it all amounts to little more than odd familial drama…
