Young CriticThe book series “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” proved to be hugely influential to US teenagers of the 80s, as they brought original and terrifying tales to life (with a helpful dose of the petrifying illustrations).
Young CriticThe phenomenon of the Fast and Furious movies is unlike anything seen in cinema apart from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The franchise has become so successful; producers don’t know what to do with it. The most recent f
Young CriticThe culture of violence is one that is ubiquitous everywhere in the world, Kubrick himself showed the longevity of such intraspecies violence with his famous “bone” sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). However, viol
Young CriticJon Favreau has fully transitioned from a comedic actor-writer into the go-to director for blockbusters. He was responsible for kick starting the massive Marvel Cinematic Universe with Iron Man (2008) (and has subsequent
Young CriticAri Aster burst onto the horror scene with Hereditary (2018), a meticulously crafted film that has been compared to The Exorcist (1973) in its craft and scares. No doubt, the American director’s second film is highly ant
Young CriticThe Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to have been too successful regarding even the studio’s own expectations. Producer Kevin Feige had mapped an initial story, revolving around the Infinity Stones and culminating in a ba
Young CriticRichard Curtis is one of the few screenwriters left that can genuinely craft an original idea and get the funding to make it. His romantic comedies of the 90s and the early 2000s were impactful for their unique concepts
Young CriticPixar is one of the few studios that has chosen quality over quantity; yet their recent foray into sequel territory has many worried that their creative zenith was behind them. With the announcement of Toy Story 4 (2019)
Young CriticThe Late Night world of American television is one of the most cut-throat areas of Hollywood and show business. The likes have been parodied in shows such as 30 Rock (2006-2013) and The Larry Sanders Show (1992-1998); bo
Young CriticIt has to take a big flop for movie studios to stop making a franchise, even if that means sapping the life out of a beloved world. Men in Black (1997) had been a fun and surprising hit, whose subsequent sequels in 2002
Young CriticThe zombie genre has been surprisingly flexible to infuse symbolism. Since the mainstream launch of the genre with George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968) the genre has explored the fear that people had with infe
Young CriticIt’s curious that the recent comic book craze was started unknowingly by X-Men (2000) nearly 20 years ago. That franchise has gained momentum as the studios around Fox developed their own sustaining cinematic universes.
Young CriticChildren’s films generally have a low-bar in order to be considered worthy of viewing. Some humor is needed, and to make kids laugh is usually much easier than it is with adults. There also needs to be important lessons
Young CriticThere’s a reason why horror films have such low budgets; such a volatile genre can deliver massive cultural and commercial hits or some of the worst films ever released. Smart directors are able to spin the low money int
Young CriticIn any artform those who play it safe and by the rules are seldom rewarded with the fame and glory that they seek. Conformists have never been the ones remembered and admired, it is the bold who make a splash in our memo
Young CriticMy biggest surprise of Warner Bros. MonsterVerse is how they keep getting such spectacular casts. Godzilla (2014) featured masterclass actors like Bryan Crantson, Juliette Binoche, and Sally Hawkins, Kong: Skull Island (
Young CriticThe purpose of a remake is in spinning an old story with some intriguing new twists. This hasn’t always been followed by the recent Disney “live-action” remakes of their animated classics, but it has been sighted in the
Young CriticWhen there is enough saturation in any given genre, there are attempts to experiment and spin new perspectives. Such is the case with Scream (1996) in the horror genre, or The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) with the mu
Young CriticThe high school coming-of-age story has been done in film countless times, and yet the exploration of such an experimental age keeps providing material for filmmakers to explore. However, the stories of maturation have a
Young CriticThe John Wick films might be one of the most surprising franchises to spawn in modern history. The original 2014 film was meant as a one-off small homage to action films of yore, but the love received has spawned two seq
Young CriticIt is difficult to estimate the impact that J.R.R. Tolkien’s works have had on pop-culture. His Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books have generated a fan base and following that has allowed a film franchise to spawn as wel
Young CriticThere are many premises that could be intriguing to be spun either with female or male perspectives. However, the recent slew of female remakes from Hollywood seem to be completely lost. There have been attempts at takin
Young CriticAs much as idealists will like to believe that the quality of a story is what helps it get made into a movie, it really is its viability to make money. Sometimes these two aspects collide, giving us the best films we kno
Young CriticRomantic comedies have fallen down a wormhole into appearing to be cookie-cutter versions of themselves. It is rare that we get bold outings that attempt to break out from the typical story structures and molds. Sure, bi