Man of Steel

Despite being one of, and arguably the most iconic superhero of all-time, Superman’s track record in the world of film hasn’t been one to brag about. The first two films in the series of films that debuted in 1978 are enjoyed (though I myself am not a huge fan), but the last two are unanimously ridiculed. The reboot/retcon/sequel Superman Returns released in 2006 has also endured its fair share of criticism. Despite this, Zack Snyder’s reboot, Man of Steel, received incredible hype to be the first great Superman film. And to be honest, I bought into the hype. The film had some great promotional material, including an awesome trailer or two. However, I’m disappointed to report that Superman’s return to the silver screen wasn’t so super after all.

Stoker

One of my favorite movies is Old Boy, and its director, Park Chan-wook, is a talented filmmaker. There’s a bite to the stories he’s told, and they’re punctuated with tight cinematography and visuals. For the longest time I anticipated the debut of his first American film, Stoker, but it’s taken me over three months to get around to seeing it due to its limited release. Now that I have, I can confidently report that in most respects, Stoker met my expectations—such as in the visual department. However, it’s also an imperfect affair—specifically in the narrative.

Kotonoha no Niwa (The Garden of Words)

I happened to discover Kotonoha no Niwa while I was on Tumblr. While scrolling I came across a couple of gifs portraying visuals from the film, and I almost immediately disregarded them as just some neat shots of nature. Then as I continued to scroll my eye happened to catch the word “anime”. Immediately I viewed the images again and I was taken aback to realize that the imagery I was watching was in fact animated. Straightaway I looked up the source of these beautiful graphics and watched the movie. I knew that even if the film was to fail on a narrative level in my eyes, I’d at least be pleased based off of the imagery alone. As it turns out, I was immersed into both.

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel The Great Gatsby is my favorite book, so my love for the source material did not increase my anticipation for Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation. As evident from the director’s prior works, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann is a filmmaker with more of an appreciation for visual congruence than narrative congruence. My feelings were not eased by the fact that Jay Z produced the soundtrack with such contemporary artists such as Gotye (despite my appreciation for his music), Lana Del Rey, Fergie, will.i.am, and more—none of which being appropriate for a film taking place in the 1920’s jazz era. Despite all the red flags, I ended up seeing the film against my better judgment.

Iron Man 3

This isn’t what I wanted, and this wasn’t what I was promised. Allow me to begin by telling you that this film is an elaborate troll. Ever since the promotional campaign for this film began, it has all been culminating to the biggest troll moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. We were promised the darkest, grandiose installment to the Iron Man series thus far to conclude the trilogy with a bang. Most trilogies do promise this, and even if the films themselves aren’t good (Spider-Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises), they at least knew not to go out on a whimper.