Features (Page 34)

Columns, thinkpieces, and opinions on every inch of pop culture.

How Quirk Killed Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”

Burton's dark, misguided adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic children's novel ages particularly poorly among the rest of his works.

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Late-Period Tim Burton

Tim Burton's recent films are dismissed as confused (dark) shadows of his career heights, but they contain brief glimmers of the filmmaker's return to form.

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With “Big Fish,” Tim Burton Told His Last, Greatest Tall Tale

Tim Burton's last great film was a mythic tall tale that anchored his dark whimsy in something more sentimental and moving.

Unraveling pop-culture one thread at a time

The Spool is an irreverent, informative source for film and television coverage, focused on diverse, thoughtful opinions that seek out a greater understanding of the media we love.

Features

“Sleepy Hollow” Is The Perfect Mid-Point Between Early and Late Tim Burton

Situated halfway between Tim Burton's Gothic beginnings and contemporary epics, Sleepy Hollow is a forgotten, thoroughly enjoyable Hammer Horror homage.

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Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is All Sorts of Delightful and Scary

Henry Selick's stop-motion holiday fable is a spooky classic, thanks to Tim Burton's macabre quirks and an array of catchy tunes.

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“Ed Wood” is Tim Burton’s Deeply Personal Ode to Filmmaking Misfits

Burton's most deeply personal film is his humanistic, black-and-white celebration of the Worst Filmmaker of All Time.

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With “Batman Returns”, Tim Burton Unleashed A Dark Superhero Circus

Tim Burton's superhero sequel saw the endlessly strange auteur run away with big studio money to make the most relentlessly weird comic book film ever.

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From Captain Marvel to Catwoman: 35 Years of Female Superheroes

We take a look at the state of female-led superheroes up to this point, from the lows of Catwoman to the highs of Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel.

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The Passion of the Christ at 15: Have We Forsaken Gibson’s Epic?

Fifteen years on, we still wrestle with the value of Mel Gibson the man and his violent, controversial take on Christ's death.

Columns

What to Watch on Streaming: Week of February 22nd, 2019

From food porn to mumblecore to frightening docs about the global economy, we tell you what to watch on streaming this weekend.

Awards

And The Oscar Goes To: A Drinking Guide for Oscar 2019

If you're planning on watching this year's highly controversial Oscars ceremony, we'll help you drink your way through the proceedings.

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Reality Bites at 25: Generation X Deserved Better

A quarter of a century later, Reality Bites offers a frustratingly incomplete portrait of the MTV generation.

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Bloody Good Romance: 12 Horror Films to Sate Your Valentine’s Day Bloodlust

Gena Radcliffe and Beau North dig into a dozen gruesome, bloody tales of love and horror this Valentine's Day.

Columns

What to Watch on Streaming: Week of February 15, 2018

Superheroes, loud women, and realistic space opera serve as your streaming recommendations this week.

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“I’m Not a Girl”: Janet, Nonbinary Representation and “The Good Place”

D'arcy Carden's Janet continues to be one of The Good Place's best characters, but her status as unlikely nonbinary icon brings up a few narrative wrinkles.

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Serenity and the Strangeness of Post-Oscar Acting Careers

In the wake of Serenity's balls-out weirdness, we look at how it fits into the oeuvre of "oddball post-Oscar films" for McConaughey and Hathaway.

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Of Two Minds: Dissociating Ourselves from “Raising Cain”

With Glass coming out, we plumb through our collective psyches to discuss Brian De Palma's split-personality thriller Raising Cain.

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Scrooged at 30: How Bill Murray Turned A Christmas Carol On Its Head

Three decades later, Bill Murray’s dark turn on Ebenezer Scrooge remains as adored by its fans as it was a nightmare to make. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood In December of 2015, Netflix aired A Very Murray Christmas, an original holiday special hosted by Bill Murray, who at some point in the past fifteen ... Scrooged at 30: How Bill Murray Turned A Christmas Carol On Its Head

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Stan Lee Was the Icon We Needed Him to Be

Upon his passing at age 95, it’s worth reflecting on Stan Lee’s complicated legacy as comic book geekdom’s most visible brand ambassador. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood The Stan Lee moment that stands out to me isn’t from one of his many famed cameos, or his legendary backpage columns, or his colorful promotional ... Stan Lee Was the Icon We Needed Him to Be

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10 Movie Witches to Hex Your Halloween

This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood Halloween season is here, which means it’s the season of the witch. The witch has long been a part of our collective unconscious, mostly in our nightmares where she tended to be a convenient scapegoat. And she continues to be a part of our culture today, albeit in ... 10 Movie Witches to Hex Your Halloween

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How the Matrix Sequels Expanded the Wachowskis’ Universe By Humanizing its Villains

The Wachowskis’ seminal sci-fi trilogy hits 4K today ahead of the first Matrix’s 20th anniversary. In honor of that, we take a look back at the much-maligned Matrix sequels and their intriguing ability to build upon (and even subvert) the themes of the first. This piece was originally posted on Alcohollywood The Matrix movies are some ... How the Matrix Sequels Expanded the Wachowskis’ Universe By Humanizing its Villains

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