The Surprise MVP of Matrix Resurrections

by Tony Ruggio

Response to The Matrix Resurrections over the past few weeks has not been unlike response to The Last Jedi. A legion of fans loathe it for reasons of defied expectations. That's a typical response when fandom has a set idea of how a long-running tale should continue to unfold, often years later. Others love it, though, enraptured by its discursive saga and meta commentary. I fall somewhere in between, just as I did on The Last Jedi, admired and tickled by Lana Wachowski’s daring narrative excursions. She attempts to unravel and re-frame the myths and myriad cliches, but she could and should have gone even further.

The Last Jedi, for all of the belly-aching by fans, was still very much a Star Wars film beholden to black-and-white notions of good and evil, wherein the Jedi are heroes and the Sith are villains. Rian Johnson had an opportunity to dispense with such binaries and have Rey join forces with Ren to defeat both sides of the aisle. The picture waxes frequently about leaving old habits in the past, and then proceeds to follow old habits to the very end. To her credit, Lana at least one-ups that polarizing sequel by dispensing with one of the binaries central to her creation...

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The Best Costumes of the Star Wars Saga

by Cláudio Alves

When I was a child my dad gifted me with the tapes of the original Star Wars trilogy and then took me to see The Phantom Menace when I was just five. Other kids left the theatre thinking of pod races and cool fights, but what most fascinated me were Queen Amidala's astounding costumes. As soon as I got home I started sketching ideas of what other crazy attires she could have worn and an obsession with movie costumes was born. I'd only consider dedicating my college studies to it many years later, but that didn't stop me from filling boxes full of drawings of the Naboo Queen and her mother in a variety of extravagant fashions.

In honor of the end of the Skywalker saga, let's take a look back to the franchise's many chapters in search of its very best costumes. Costume design is one of the few elements where the quality never wavered across nine movies, despite a single costume design nomination and win from the Academy (for the 1977 original).

There was plenty to choose from. To avoid any character dominating the list, the self-imposed limitation is one costume per character. 

Honorable Mentions: The many permutations of the Jedi's classic garb including Darth Maul's black version of it, Snoke's red Pretorian guard, Queen Apailana's funereal splendor and the jacket Finn got from his sexy boyfriend...

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Review: "Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker"

by Cláudio Alves

"Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to." were the desperate words of an angry man. "The greatest teacher, failure is." was the philosophy of a wise master. Somewhere in between the two sentiments, those of Kylo Ren and Yoda, lies the ethos of Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi. There's no place for toxic nostalgia in that director's vision of the Star Wars universe, though a critical look at what came before is necessary or else we're bound to never grow. Independently of Episode VIII's other faults, one would think such a theme would be unanimously celebrated and generate little to no controversy. One would be mistaken. 

Johnson's Star Wars feature sparked a wave of antagonistic discourse that's still active two years after its release. While the perpetual litigation of that production's merits is no one's idea of a good time, it's crucial to consider its themes when analyzing the latest episode in the saga. If every film in a franchise is having a conversation with its brethren, The Rise of Skywalker represents a repudiation of The Last Jedi's core ideals. JJ Abrams' return to the saga is an open celebration of uncritical nostalgia. Indeed, it appears to have been conceived more as a cowed response to fans' complaints than as a satisfying narrative…

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MTV Movie & TV Award Nominees

by Nathaniel R

We lost interest in the MTV Movie Awards during the looooong stretch of them turning into the (which year is this?) blur of franchise awards with Harry's Twilight Hunger Games. But let's check back in since nominees were announced a few days ago and voting is now open.

And Oops! spoke to soon in the previous post on the GLAAD Awards. The GLAAD honor wasn't the last hurrah for Call Me By Your Name. Timothée Chalamet, the internet's current boyfriend, is up for an MTV Movie Award for his performance. That he's up against Rey in Star Wars and T'Challa in Black Panther indicates that he'll lose given that the public votes on these awards and that movie earned basically a ha'penny when compared to its competition. But hey, we're part of the public. We can vote now! Because the MTV Awards have a school year schedule, Avengers Infinity War (April 2018) is competing with Wonder Woman (June 2017) for best movie though we all know Black Panther will win. More after the jump...

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Film Bitch Awards: Heroes, Villains, Divas, Thirst Traps...

by Nathaniel R

We're racing to the finish line for the 2017 film season. One more day until we can safely put that film year behind us and enter 2018 where y'all already are no doubt. Now we turn our eyes to the bold strokes categories. The men and women who inspired through heroics, were fun to hate, who preened fabulously, or (ahem) aroused us. So click on over to the Film Bitch Awards for:

• Hero of the Year
• Diva of the Year
• Villain of the Year
• Sexpot of the Year
• Movie Poster of the Year

Films honored include Thor Ragnarok, The Shape of Water, Spider-Man Homecoming, Colossal, The Ornithologist, Wonder Woman, mother!, Phantom Thread, andmore. Hope you enjoy and report back with your own thoughts on these "extra" honors!