273 – Incredible Healing Factor

If you look at a list of things that I love, you will find the X-Men – somewhere between burritos and the Criterion Collection. Like any child of the 90’s, I was introduced to the merry mutants through their Fox Kids cartoon. The continuing television adventures of Gambit, Wolverine, Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and – inexplicably – Jubilee (the only character less useful than Cyclops) indoctrinated me into the incredibly complex mythology and soap opera-esque relationships that define the Marvel Comics team. But I never, ever suspected that I might be destined to be a member.

272 – Pride (2014)

It seems like every year there is a mainstream “gay” movie that progressive heterosexuals can get behind. Last year it was, of course, Dallas Buyers Club, despite the fact that the film was actually the story of a prejudiced straight man saving a bunch of AIDS-afflicted homosexuals. Still, one of the characters was a man in drag, so Hollywood says it counts! The new film Pride, a British production from well-known theatre director Matthew Warchus, allows its gay characters to have a little more agency, and the result is a movie that is actually quite good.

271 – Not-So-Lazy Sundays

excellent photoshop courtesy of Megan Baker

Sundays are the worst. The entire day is mired in the inevitability of Monday, and the return to work or school that it heralds. Unfortunately for me, Sundays mean that I have to go back to work AND school. Because they’re the same thing, you see. So I think I can be excused for trying to take it easy on that last day of freedom. I was expecting today to be as lazy a Sunday as I’ve ever had – so lazy in fact, that I would almost write the same review twice. But life has a way of surprising you.

270 – The Judge (2014)

The latest film from director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Knights) may have the title and billboards of a John Grisham adaptation, but The Judge is more about family drama than backroom legal dealings. And while the movie has many aspects in place that would predict success – the main two being Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr. – I will spoil the rest of this review and let you know that it just doesn’t work.

269 – Too Busy

I’m going to bed. Sorry. It’s gotta be that way. This has been an incredibly busy day for me, and I’m exhausted. It’s 1 am, and I just got for for the first time since I left over 18 hours ago.

268 – Field Trips

ladies and gentlemen, the getty villa

Remember the days of field trips? That elated feeling you get just knowing that instead of going to school and sitting in boring class all day, you would be able to take a bus to another place and pretend to learn something, even though the true endgame was just to mess around. It’s almost a better feeling than the weekend, because it is as if you’ve pulled one over on the school, by convincing the people in charge to let you go on this little vacation. Well, I’m here to tell you that that feeling never goes away.

267 – Tracks (2013)

“Man versus nature” is one of the classic types of literary conflict. It has existed as a concept for as long as man has. The earliest humans had to battle nature just to survive. Perhaps that is why it has persisted as device in our stories – long before we could fight each other, we had to fight the world itself. In director John Curran’s latest film, Tracks, Mia Wasikowska plays a woman whose disillusionment with society has driven straight into the arms of humanity’s first great enemy.

266 – Coconut Water

rihanna actually said that!

It’s been a rough couple months for me guys. I wrote about being sick back in May in the midst of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I usually have a very strong constitution, but something is happening to me this year. Illness is in vogue in 2014, and you can call me Kate Upton, because I’m modeling it like crazy. It’s all virus, all the time, so in a situation like that your renewed health depends more on how you treat your body than on what medications you take. And that’s why I’m here on behalf of coconut water.

265 – Gotham, “Pilot”

Despite not reviewing one in a few months, I love comics. That’s no secret. So ultimately I hope for the success of any comics-related media. I easily lose myself in that enthusiasm at times, especially where Marvel movies are concerned. It is difficult for me to take an objective view when it comes to properties I have loved for so long. DC Comics and Warner Bros. have made that a little easier, what with the release of terrible movies like Man of Steel and announcement upon announcement that slowly drains all excitement from my soul for their upcoming slate of comic book movies. But DC has always been more tenacious when it comes to the TV realm. Batman: The Animated Series is a legitimately great show, and I’ll admit I probably watched Smallville a few years longer than I ought to have. The 2014-2015 television season sees the debuts of several new series based on DC properties, the first of which is Gotham – a show following Jim Gordon (the man who would be commissioner) and Bruce Wayne (the boy who would be Batman) in the early days following Wayne’s parents’ double murder. Time to expect the worst and hope for the best.

264 – Citizen Kane (1941)

My Great Movies momentum has slowed immensely in the last few months. Roger Ebert’s list is (sadly) not getting any longer, but other commitments keep me from diving in as whole-heartedly as I would like. Nothing could keep me away forever, not even as daunting a task as watching Citizen Kane for the first time.