Latest News and Reviews

Review: ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Struggles to Justify Its Place

Following a fifteen-year hiatus, Indiana Jones has returned to the big screen in The Dial of Destiny. This time around though instead of being directed by the original creator Steven Spielberg, James Mangold takes directorial control. The previous Indiana Jones film, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was met with very mixed reviews as it came out 19 years after the conclusion of the trilogy.  Many felt that it was a poorly done money grab profiting off of nostalgia for the previous three films.  So, the question going into Dial of Destiny is: what is its justification for once again coming back after all this time, besides being another easy money grab?  Upon watching, it’s hard to really see a reason for its reemergence besides to once again revel in nostalgia for the wildly successful original films.  As a film based purely on nostalgia bait though, it does a decent job at giving fans of the series what they want and making the experience a relatively good time.

Continue reading “Review: ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Struggles to Justify Its Place” →

UW Film Club Podcast #95: SIFF 2023 Highlights

With SIFF 2023 coming to a close, we visited some of our website writers and film club board members who were able to cover the festival and talk about which films were the highlights of their festival experience. If you’re interested in getting a heads-up on some of the best films coming out soon, or just why you should attend SIFF due to its overall experience, you won’t want to miss this episode!

On this episode: Drew Favors, Sarah Kelley, Harrison Hall, Natalia Valvano, PJ Knapke

You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Google Play, and tune in every week for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

Review: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Positively Crosses Boundaries

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse (dir. Joaquim dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson) is the long-awaited sequel to 2019’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse (dir. Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, and Bob Persichetti). The story picks up about a year after the last movie left off, as Miles (Shameik Moore) navigates his sophomore year of high school, keeping up with his family, and being Spider-Man. But this time around there’s one big difference: he’s doing it all by himself, without his friends from the Spider-verse. Or at least, that’s how things start out. But since when does anything go according to plan?

Continue reading “Review: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Positively Crosses Boundaries” →

Review: ‘Fast X’ is Quickly Becoming One of the Worst Films in the Series

The Fast and the Furious franchise has had ups and downs from really interesting mediocre movies, to really bad action-packed nothing burgers. These films over the years have become more and more saturated with references to the things it has done before and making cars do crazier things to the point that sometimes they aren’t even cars. Fast X serves as the beginning of the apparent 3-part finale to the series that has spanned over 20 years, 10 films, and a spinoff. A multitude of high-profile names have played both ally and antagonist in a series that has a problem figuring out, even after all this time, what the hell it is trying to do. The series started with a cop breaching into the inner circle of a group of street racers turned hardened criminal group, which later turned into that same group upping their profession into high-risk heists and gang shootouts, eventually ending in the same group repeatedly saving the world? I can’t even begin to explain the absurdities.

Continue reading “Review: ‘Fast X’ is Quickly Becoming One of the Worst Films in the Series” →

Review: ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ Explodes with Oppositional Cinematic Fanfare

Anti-Imperialism, Anti-Classism, Anti-Patriarchy, Anti-Capitalist. Oppositional Media has been a mainstay in cinema for a long time.  There is a clear history of films being made to fight against the rich and powerful, or the hateful and powerful trying to take advantage of people for their own gain. Now, while a lot of that media involves real footage, and documentary production, there are many times where oppositional cinema is in the form of fiction. These films get us in the mind of a familiar situation to show us how things are. How to Blow Up a Pipeline does this in the most explosive way.

Continue reading “Review: ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ Explodes with Oppositional Cinematic Fanfare” →

Review: ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Powers Up to Mediocrity

Transitioning out of the superhero era of movie blockbusters, we look toward the muddied future of film and television to the next big thing: video game adaptations. Up till now there’s been a history of video game adaptations being less than stellar. Mortal Kombat, Assassin’s Creed, and the dozen or so Resident Evil adaptations have made a mess of the subgenre. Yet recently with things like Detective Pikachu, Sonic, and most impressively The Last of Us, the future for adaptations of this type doesn’t look so awful anymore. With the public realizing that these games aren’t just one note and brain rot, and might actually be filled with genuine characters, heartfelt stories, and room for enrichment in whatever media form they take, there is finally the space open for truly well-made and well-loved adaptations. The most recent take, and the step that will probably make video game adaptations become a regular thing now, is The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Continue reading “Review: ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Powers Up to Mediocrity” →

UW Film Club Podcast #94: Top 10 Films of 2022: Part 2

We are again sitting down to talk about our favorite films of 2022. This episode is part 2 of our 2-part series in which we focus on our top 10 films. In this episode, we focus on the top 4 films on our lists. If you’d like to listen to the first episode, I highly recommend it before listening to this one. Lastly, I hope you enjoy our 94th episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

On this episode: Drew Favors, PJ Knapke, Luke Wilhelm, Harrison Hall

You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Google Play, and tune in every week for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

 

UW Film Club Podcast #93: Top 10 Films of 2022: Part 1

2022 is now long behind us. With that in mind, it was one of the greater years of cinema we have experienced in quite some time. For this podcast, we are sitting down and breaking down our top 10 films of last year, some of our honorable mentions, and our general opinion of recent films with some of our more disliked films entering into the mix. This episode is part 1 of a 2-part series in which we will focus on our top 10 films. In this episode, we are focusing on our honorable mentions and the films that made our 10-5 spots on our lists. I hope you enjoy our 93rd episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

 

On this episode: Drew Favors, PJ Knapke, Luke Wilhelm, Harrison Hall

You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Google Play, and tune in every week for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

SIFF 2023 Capsule Reviews

The 2023 Seattle International Film Festival begins on May 11th and runs through May 21st, with select films screening on the SIFF Channel May 22-28. UW Film Club will be covering as many films as possible so that you know which films to see! Throughout the festival, this article will be regularly updated with capsule reviews for festival films. Check back every few days to see what’s new!

Continue reading “SIFF 2023 Capsule Reviews” →

Drew Favors’ Top 10 Films of 2022

It’s easy to say that 2022 was the greatest comeback year for films since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and even a few years before it. Films that have been in “development hell” for years, or passion projects that have slipped by various studio goalies, have emerged to create a nostalgic cinematic experience that I have yearned for but have not been able to experience in so long.

With the cinema landscape having been open to the public continuously over the past year, Hollywood, and some more silent heavy hitters, have emerged to bring beautiful films both internationally and domestically. Since the release of films this year has been so broad, I would like to start off with a few honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the Top 10 cut, but rightfully deserve recognition for their stellar achievements in filmmaking. Keep in mind, these mentions will be brief.

Continue reading “Drew Favors’ Top 10 Films of 2022” →