Anghus Houvouras on toxic fans and the media… One of the things that keeps the fires burning in my brain is the concept of toxic fandom. It’s become so pervasive in our always-connected world of social media. Most of the stories play out in a similar fashion. A casting decision or creative choice is made […]
The Most Disappointing: Blaming Star Wars Fans for Disney’s Failures
Anghus Houvouras on Disney’s Star Wars… The Star Wars franchise is FUBAR. A mess that continues to get messier. Like a wedding dress stained with red wine that someone tries to clean using a mop that’s been soaking in a bucket of hot dog water. I’ve written, at length, about how the Star Wars franchise […]
Movie Review – Petey Wheatstraw (1977)
Petey Wheatstraw, 1977. Directed by Cliff Roquemore. Starring Rudy Ray Moore, Jimmy Lynch, Leroy Daniels, G. Tito Shaw, and Ernest Mayhand. SYNOPSIS: Petey Wheatstraw (Rudy Ray Moore) was born during a tropical storm, and from the moment he took his first breath he could walk, talk and kick ass. He grows up to become a […]
Why the Star Wars: The Last Jedi remake should be taken (somewhat) seriously
Anghus Houvouras on the fan campaign to fund a remake of Star Wars: The Last Jedi… Not the actual movie, mind you. I’m not here to advocate a $200 million GoFundMe financed fan-film version of Episode VIII. That would be ludicrous… but so damn entertaining. It would be like watching Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice […]
Not To Be Taken Seriously: The First Order Stormtrooper Redesign
Anghus Houvouras on the First Order Stormtrooper… There are some topics that feel far too ridiculous to write a column about. This is one of them. The Star Wars franchise has been taking licks like a crack filled Tootsie Pop. Everybody’s stumbling over one another to give their perspective on the state of a galaxy […]
Can we all admit the Halloween trailer was kind of terrible?
Anghus Houvouras wasn’t impressed by the Halloween trailer… One could argue that movie marketing has become as formulaic as the movies they are pimping. There isn’t a lot of variety in trailers for high-profile studio movies. They all tend to follow a certain rhythm and cadence with very few offering anything novel. You give a […]
Why are Star Wars fans acting like Kelly Marie Tran smothered their inner child?
Anghus Houvouras on toxic fandom… Obviously she didn’t. No rational mature adult human-being could validate a statement like this. It’s the kind of hyperbolic verbal spasm that has become a staple of fandom ever since cinematic obsessives made declarations like ‘George Lucas raped my childhood’ because they thought the prequels weren’t that good. I’m always […]
The Most Disappointing: Deadpool 2
Anghus Houvouras on Deadpool 2… Sequels are often a disappointing proposition. They come from a creatively suspect place. Hit movies demand replication, but replicating their success means a lot of copying and pasting. None of it feels as fresh as the original, and often we’re left with something unoriginal—and even more sinful, unnecessary. Unoriginal movies […]
Four ways Disney has decimated the Star Wars franchise
Anghus Houvouras on Disney’s decimation of Star Wars… After Solo’s lukewarm reception with the ticket-buying public and the lasting schism caused by Rian Johnson’s divisive The Last Jedi, it feels like the Star Wars franchise has taken a hit. What was once the most popular franchise in the world doesn’t even feel like the most […]
Should studios just leave troubled productions alone?
Anghus Houvouras on whether studios should leave troubled productions alone… There’s a terrible line uttered by Rose Tico in the terrible movie that was Star Wars: The Last Jedi. A goofy, cringe-inducing piece of writing that should make everyone shudder. In that awful final act where she stops Finn from sacrificing himself to save his friends […]