Weekly Geeky Question #33: Modern Superhero Epic Movie History

Every week in 2018, the plan is that my friend Rod is going to ask me some geeky question that will answer in a post. This week is Week #33, and this week’s question is again about comic books and superheroes:

How did we get to the modern superhero movie?

47 Movie Blogs #30 – Questionable Casting Decisions

I feel like this is a topic I’m not very good at writing. Certainly, there are lots of things I’ve complained about in a lot of films, but usually if it’s not very good, I’m finding problems in the writing and directing more than in the performances. 

Movies on a Plane: More Global Destruction Than You Can Shake a Mutant At

Recently I’ve made another trip overseas, which means more movies on a plane!  Although it was not an especially long trip, and a lot of it took place overnight, so I only got two movies in this time.

(Incidentally, even though this is a blog post about movies, it’s not part of my 47 Movie Blogs series, as I chose the topic myself, rather than having it chosen for me).

Long-term readers will know that my usual philosophy when choosing what to enjoy on intercontinental travel is to find films that make me curious but are not too demanding.  In other words, films I kind of want to see but that I’m not all that hopeful about and therefore am glad to see for free.

To this end, I’m waiting for the day that GI Joe: Retaliation turns up, but failing that I was happy to tune into a recent superhero film that I’d missed in the theatres…

Ten Interesting Non-Linear Movies

Like my post a while ago about time travel stories here, the idea isn’t to list the ten greatest non-linear stories.  Who could claim such a thing?  Especially when I’ve never even seen Rashomon, or Pulp Fiction?  But I’m interested in film and storytelling, and recently I’ve been pondering a bit about the idea of non-linear storytelling. This is a phrase that has a broad range of meaning and an equally diverse selection of potential examples.

Image courtesy of posterize / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Actually, almost every film is non-linear, in the sense that they don’t take place in a continuous uninterrupted flow of time and space.  If we take that a super-strict definition, than you have to go to something like Rope (presented in what is supposedly in one continuous take) or High Noon (which has edits, but takes place in real time) to find something that’s not non-linear.

But usually, that’s not what we mean.