The Incredible Avengers

Marvel’s Avengers is what every summer blockbuster aspires to be — the perfect popcorn epic.

— Xenocrates

This is, by all means, the new gold standard in summer blockbuster entertainment.

If you’ve read my blog, you know I don’t stop to review movies unless they have some kind of cultural significance. The last time I did that was to expose why people instinctively gravitate towards an obnoxious waste of film such as Transformers 3 that does away with story telling for big, loud, expensive, set pieces. However, Avengers is not such a movie. It is a genre defining epic that does the impossible: tell an outlandish, implausible tale with spectacular cohesion and believability. This is the movie Transformers 3 should have been and here’s why:

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■ E-mail: accordingtoxen[at]gmail[dot]com

Transformers 3: Why dumb movies make money

The business of entertainment will always supersede the necessity for art.

— Xenocrates

I am a huge Transformers fan. I’ve been a fan of the franchise since 1984. I am however, an even bigger fan of movies. The medium is perhaps the most difficult to master with respect to telling a great story since so much visualization is involved. However, most people who go to see movies these days have less interest in the story telling than the gorgeous visuals. This is why Michael Bay could make a bombastic, disjointed, mess that would still rake in millions.

It’s a sign of the slow commercial bludgeoning of the medium.

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■ E-mail: accordingtoxen[at]gmail[dot]com

Inception: Explained

The entirety of act two was little more than a very well written, but ultimately clever distraction.

– Xenocrates

So if you’ve seen the movie, one of two issues is likely to confuse you. You’re either among the viewers that got lost somewhere in the second act or are in the camp that is wondering what the end actually means. If you are a fan of Chris Nolan’s work, then the end would not have been unexpected. That’s his signature style. Even so, the end of the film requires explanation.

SPOILER WARNING: DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS FILM.

Inception: Reviewed

Inception is that rare movie that comes along once every ten years or so that becomes the genre defining moment of the decade.

– Xenocrates

Shortly after posting an exegesis on dream interpretation, WordPress automatically tagged the post with a review of a new movie that has been out for some time now. The film is called “Inception” and it’s directed by the same guy who did “Dark Knight” and “Memento”. So I decided to see it – and let me tell you, I had to see it twice, because it utterly blew my mind.

Star Trek (2009) Full Review

“Set a course for awesome – maximum warp. The summer has officially begun.”

– Xenocrates

The Science Fiction hall of fame officially has another inductee. J.J. Abram’s re-imagining of Star Trek sets the bar so ridiculously high this season, that I feel bad for the other summer epics yet to come that are now hopelessly doomed to mediocrity. This is quite possibly the best film of 2009 and there are five very good reasons why I say this: