science fiction & fantasy writer
📍 LA | SJ | RNO
lists will contain my top 24 in a few categories
The Prestige is a film I’m going to think about for a very long time. Absolutely fantastic. I wish I could watch it for the first time again and again and again.
Kōichi Shikishima is not just a believable character with a phenomenal character arc, but is a heartbreaking and raw example of post-war PTSD, honor and culture, and what it means to be human. This film is drastically different from your typical soulless Godzilla destruction fest, but still manages to serve crushing blows when it needs to. Highly recommend even if this genre of film isn’t typically on your watchlist.
I have to ask myself if the critics on Rotten Tomatoes are being paid to rate this so high. Cinematically, it was fabulous. The old school snowy-television-meets-radio-murder-mystery was entertaining. But as far as the story payoff… I was underwhelmed. The story gave itself away within the first five minutes, and every beat I found myself nodding with expectation rather than shocked with genuine surprise. Extra points for the practical effects.
A lot of recent releases take the hero-wins-all approach—giving the audience the same rinse and repeat yawn fest we have to endure every time we sit down for another superhero movie. This story has taken a different approach. The protagonist is the antagonist of the franchise and the prequel makes no attempt to exonerate him. Instead, we see the desire for power far before the betrayal that ultimately hardens Snow’s heart. This is not a love story, or a tale…