The Death of Video Stores: A World of Magic Lost to Convenience

This article was originally published on Medium.com

It’s a Friday afternoon, the school bell rings and you are released to the weekend. You run outside, your dad picks you up, and he tells you that you are getting takeout for dinner. The day can’t get better, but it does. After picking up food, your dad takes you to the video store. You get to pick any movie you want. The world is your oyster and you couldn’t be happier.

The Cinema Cult’s Top 10 Films of 2021

2021 has been a massive year for cinema. With movies making their way back to the theatre, a number of 2020’s delayed films have finally been released in the last 365 days. This has resulted in a plethora of good, great and forgettable features. But this is not a list for 2021’s poorest releases, it is one for the best. Without further ado, here are The Cinema Cult’s top 10 films of 2021.

#ReleaseTheShorterCut: The Flawed Reality of Unnecessarily Long Movies

The recent release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League has resulted in a number of discussions within the online cinema space. The characters and story have been rigorously debated but it is the 4-hour runtime that has been a specific focus point highlighted by many. Brought up by some as a strength, the length seems to be encouraging more calls for director’s cuts and expanded film durations in general. The truth is, most movies need to be shorter, not longer.

The Marvelisation of Star Wars, and how Fan Service Diminishes The Mandalorian

This article contains spoilers for season 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian. Read at your own risk.

The truth is, the majority of season 2 of The Mandalorian is fantastic television. The main characters are interesting, the action is spectacular and the driving narrative is very engaging. Building on season 1, the first few episodes did a great job of continuing the story of a former galactic bounty hunter. Focusing on a smaller scale within the Star Wars universe, the series seemed was a refreshing side-quest that did not need the constant ignition of lightsabers. Unfortunately, this was only the case until chapter 13, The Jedi. It was here where the show conveyed that Star Wars was adopting the Marvel formula. From there, it took another unnecessary cameo in the finale to reveal that even The Mandalorian was not safe from the classic legacy of hollow Star Wars fan-service.

In Marvel’s Shadow: The Fall and Rise of DC Cinema

The year was 2013. At this point, Marvel had released 7 feature films in their cinematic universe. Their planning had paid off, as each solo release was able to slowly build a team of heroes that felt natural and organic. Such success is admirable, with many envious of the huge fan reactions (and box office earnings) that were received. With comic book cinema thriving, it made sense that historical rival DC would attempt to replicate some of this prosperity. With the groundwork laid in 2011’s Man of Steel, it was now time to take the next step. While Marvel chose to make 5 solo movies before uniting its protagonists, DC decided to put their 3 biggest stars in the second film of their franchise. This, perhaps obviously, did not go as planned.