
Technology in the last few decades has grown by leaps and bounds. Very few could fathom the thought of a wireless telephone or even a smart phone during the lifetime of Alexander Graham Bell. Now we have the internet, various devices that require the internet, and soon enough, replacements for those who use the internet and related devices.

Hollywood has always been something of a boys club. If you think about the golden era of the studio system, you always hear about larger-than-life stars and the maverick, alpha-male directors that made all the classics we know and love today. Think of pictures of giants such as Howard Hawks, Samuel Fuller, John Huston, or Alfred Hitchc*ck, who are usually seen dictating their vision with booming authority.

Ant-Man makes his first appearance on the white screen next year, being the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie features Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly, Hayley Atwell, Michael Douglass, Michael Peña and a handfull of other familiar names. It was directed by Peyton Reed (best known for comedies like Yes Man and The Break-Up) and its screenplay was written by Adam McKay, Gabriel Ferrari and Andrew Barrer.

Biopics are difficult to get right, especially if you’re covering the life story of somebody whose life story is already well known. How do you make it entertaining to an audience familiar with the backstory, yet still entertaining to a new audience who aren’t? Mike Leigh’s latest directorial effort Mr.

2014 should really be known as “The Year of the Biopic.” There have been films this past year that were based on many world-reknown icons, from Martin Luther King to Stephen Hawking to pop singer James Brown. And somewhere in the midst of all those comes the story of Alan Turing, a British mathematician that almost single-handedly won World War II.

Peter Jackson’s first Lord of the Rings trilogy is potentially one of the finest trilogies ever made. Each film in the series, from Fellowship of the Ring to Return of the King, are all solid masterpieces, containing beautiful cinematography, fine character acting, and iconic soundtracks by Howard Shore. The Hobbit series, on the other hand, is much more inconsistent.

In an era when Hollywood is running out of ideas more than any other previous point in its century-long history, the big studios’ desire to unnecessarily remake everything grows even more unwelcome. It’s not that good remakes can’t be made (after all, The Departed, The Fly and a Fistful of Dollars all exist), but modern audiences are so skeptical of remakes that they tend to stay away in droves. The remakes only seem to happen presumably so that the studios can maintain the copyright to the originals and continue to make heaps of money.