Category Archives: Movies

2017 Academy Award Nominess

The nominees for the films that came out in 2016 are up. As usual, genre films are passed over, but at least Arrival seems to have caught the Academy’s attention for some of the major awards. While not genre, per se, Hidden Figures is definitely a geek-friendly movie and highly recommended by the Bureau staff.

Continue reading →

In 2016, It was good to be Disney

The final box office tallies are in for 2016, and Disney made six of the top ten grossing films of the year. Of course, it helps to have Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel in your inventory. Disney’s performance this past year is the first time a movie studio broke $1 billion in ticket sales.

  1. Finding Dory ($486 million)
  2. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($451 million)
  3. Captain America: Civil War ($408 million)
  4. The Secret Life of Pets ($368 million)
  5. The Jungle Book ($364 million)
  6. Deadpool ($363 million)
  7. Zootopia ($341 million)
  8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($330 million)
  9. Suicide Squad ($325 million)
  10. Doctor Strange ($230 million)

 

Weekend Review: Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders

Don’t worry: that Rogue One review is forthcoming. Meanwhile, we’re taking a look at a recent contribution to Bat-animation.

Return of the Caped Crusaders saw limited release in October 2016 and quickly found its way to home viewing. A tribute to the campy, cult Batman of the 1960s, featuring the voices of series originals Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar, it uses animation and an awareness of the Dark Knight’s history to take Batman ’66 where period TV could never go.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Arrival

Ted Chiang holds a unique place in science-fiction. He only sporadically publishes anything, usually in the form of a long story or a short novella. When he does it’s an event, and the work generally gets nominated for or wins a major award.

Most of his written work defies obvious cinematic adaptation. I naturally felt surprise when I learned that the Nebula and Sturgeon-winning “Story of Your Life” would become a film.

Continue reading →