James Philbrick

While attending Wizard World Chicago I got the chance to experience Float: A Cinematic VR Experience . The attraction was put together by Newline and Warner Bros. Pictures. I eyeballed the attracted for a few days but I didn't know if it was worth waiting over 2 hours, especially since I wasn't too interested in the upcoming film, It . However, I strolled past the creepy bus today and saw barely any people waiting in line so I decided to try it out. I waited in line for about 10 minutes while listening to dramatic music and watching trailers to promote the movie. Once I got to the front I was greeted by polite and helpful representatives. I had to fill out some paperwork that said I couldn't blame them for fainting, stress, etc. It also said I could be recorded and the footage could be used in marketing materials. I waited outside the bus and was told the virtual reality experience would include subpac seat covers, loud sounds, frightening and disturbing images, virtua...

A good movie not only entertains someone, but it makes them think about the film and how it relates to life. An amazing movie makes viewers think about the film long after watching it and has an impact on their life. Million Dollar Baby is a spectacular example of all these factors. Million Dollar Baby is a dramatic film directed by Clint Eastwood and it stars Hilary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald, a poor boxer who is determined to become the very best she can be. Million Dollar Baby is a perfect example of a drama film because it has a complex and engaging conflict, the characters are believable and appealing, and the conflict is constantly switching gears, taking captive of the audience’s attention and grasping it until the very end of the film, resulting in an enthusiastic viewing.  Million Dollar Baby tells the inspirational story of Maggie Fitzgerald, a hard working, dedicated, and inspired rookie boxer who will do whatever it takes to be the best. The story opens in...

   In 1999, Sam Mendes released his comedic drama film that was nominated for 8 Oscars and won 5, including Best Picture. The movie, American Beauty , is about two families whose members are all trying to achieve happiness in different ways. To achieve happiness, the characters go either with or against society’s norms.  This takes place throughout the entire movie and explores the different ways people search for happiness, along with the positive and negative results of their actions. The theme of American Beauty is that the pursuit of happiness is the driving force in everyone’s life, but is overall an impossible task to complete unless it is through death. The film explores how each character is set on achieving happiness and how it is always the most important thing to them, no matter how it affects other people around them. American Beauty was made in the very late 1990’s and was also set in the same time period.  The film reflects the time it was m...

Cooties is a horror comedy film directed by Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion. The film revolves around Elijah Wood as Clint, a failed writer working as an elementary school teacher to pay the bills. However, on his first day at a new school, the children eat contaminated chicken nuggets and turn into child zombies. Chaos ensues as Clint and his coworkers try to survive against the zombie plague that can only be spread through children.  I had a lot of problems with this movie, so I’ll start with the extremely boring set up. We are introduced to Clint, Lucy, and Wade. Clint has a huge crush on Lucy, but her boyfriend Wade keeps getting in the way. None of the characters are likable except the main character, but he is so bland and uninteresting.  Lucy is the typical love interest and Wade is the typical asshole boyfriend while the rest of the characters are just there.  Clint begins to teach his first class and a sick girl takes a chomp out of another boy’s f...

Gender stereotypes are an ongoing conflict in modern society today and both women and men attempt to escape the generalizations that surround their everyday lives. Unfortunately, media does not help people escape these gender stereotypes. That is why it is so important to recognize when something in the media attempts to break these stereotypes.  A great example of this is the movie Million Dollar Baby that was directed by Clint Eastwood in 2004 and starred Hilary Swank. Million Dollar Baby tells the inspirational story of Maggie Fitzgerald, a hard working, dedicated, and inspired rookie boxer who will do whatever it takes to be the best. Maggie starts training in a gym and is immediately judged by others for being an older woman boxer. The men try to kick her out of the gym and discourage her, but she is determined to prove them wrong. She attempts to recruit the owner to be her trainer, but he quickly declines and states, “I don’t train girls.” After spending long hours i...

A huge part of film and how a film is made is how directors control physical elements of filming to display themes in their movies. This results in a powerful way of expression oneself through a film. This can be done in many ways, including editing. Editing is taking footage and crafting that footage together to make the film and directors can use various techniques to make the best version of a film possible.  In 2014, Damien Chazelle released his Drama film that was nominated for 5 Oscars and won 3, including Best Film Editing, Whiplash . Whiplash is about a young musician who is willing to work as hard as he possibly can to be the very best. Whiplash revolves around a young man named Andrew, who is going to school and wants to be a famous drummer. In his journey to be the best, Andrew must overcome many obstacles and give up many things in order to achieve his goals. The theme of Whiplash is that being the best at what you do comes with a price. To best display that ...

Wow, I don’t even know where to begin with this review. There were so many things about this movie that I loved and I have to start somewhere, so I’ll start with this: nothing will ever top Stan Lee’s cameo in this movie. This was hands down his best cameo yet and I can’t stop thinking about it! Vol. 2 picks up a couple months after the first Guardians of the Galaxy ends. This means the team is still relatively new and getting used to working together efficiently. The opening credits were the most fun I have had in the theater since the airport fight in Civil War . It was action packed and had the audience laughing the entire time. It allowed every character to shine and uniquely display their fighting styles, skills, and characteristics. It also served as a nice reintroduction to each character. Right from the start, you can tell what kind of movie it is and how much more explosive it will be in comparison to the first. This movie felt much more personal and containe...