Movie Review: The Hunger Games - Mockingjay: Part 2

Well, the series has come to close, not with a bang, but a whimper. This is not to say I did not enjoy the film, but it is certainly not without its flaws. I can say I was entertained, but considering how the series got off to a roaring success with its first two entries, the final two seem a little tired and worn out by comparison. I seriously think the franchise would have been better off, creatively, if the Mockingjay pair of films were just one film. The studio got greedy, and as they are wont to do with their high profile franchises, split the final book into two films (following Harry Potter, Twilight, and you could probably toss The Hobbit in there as well). Both final films felt stretched and padded with material to meet run time requirements.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games - Mockingjay Pt. 1

So, the first half of the final chapter for The Hunger Games franchise has arrived in theaters. With it, it snagged the biggest opening of the year, just as it fell well short of its predictions and expectations. I always wonder about things like that, with a franchise as well received and popular as it is, to open up some $36 million less than its predecessor, where did the people go? Granted, I am not all about the opening weekend as I am about the quality, but it begs the question what resulted in the disparity? I guess it really doesn't matter, the movie is going to make plenty of bank. So, aside from the money, was the movie any good? Yes and no.

DVD Review: The Calling (2014)

A few weeks ago, I was perusing the upcoming weekend movie schedule. I was plotting what movies to see, what order, and if there were any interesting small releases to potentially check out. One of the movies I came across was The Calling. It was playing at a theater about an hour drive away and was the only one that I was potentially interested in driving that far for. It looked interesting, had a good cast, and the trailer seemed to be hiding something. Ultimately, I chose not to make the drive, and now, watching the movie on DVD, I think I made the right decision. This is not a movie worth driving fifteen minutes for, much less an hour.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

To be honest, the fact that director Gary Ross declined to return for the sequel to the hit Hunger Games from last year made me happy. While I felt he acquitted himself well on the film, it was pretty clear he was not very good at handling action, especially when you need to disguise the level of violence for a PG-13 rating. In his place is Francis Lawrence, a former music video director who has done well with genre fare such as Constantine and I Am Legend. He does a far better job with Catching Fire than Ross did on the first. As an added bonus, Lawrence will be on hand for the two part finale.

Reviews in Retrograde: The Art of War

Critical Outcast isn't my first attempt at a website, I had a few stutter steps in the late 1990's and early 2000's. These attempts generated a whole bunch of poorly written, often very short and spoilerific reviews. I recently stumbled upon them in my archives and thought you may be interested in seeing some of these early attempts at writing. They are as they were then, I make no apologies for how bad or how short they are. Feel free to have at them with reckless abandon! I present to you: Reviews in Retrograde.