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influences

06 Sep

Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Many Influences of Indiana Jones

New DVD release, , ,
When Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in 1981, it was like a jolt of lightning from out of the past. As with George Lucas’ Star Wars before it, here was a throwback to many of the cinematic touchstones high and low that Baby Boomers grew up with: Saturday morning serials, prestige Oscar winners from yesteryear, and even boys’ pulp magazines were sifted through, borrowed from, and recontextualized into one of the most thrilling action-adventure movies anyone had ever seen. Somehow Lucas, who was a producer on the project, director Steven Spielberg, and the whole Indiana Jones team were…
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05 Mar

Raya and the Last Dragon’s Many Cultural Influences Make for a Distinct World

New DVD release, , , ,
Raya and the Last Dragon‘s creation of a Southeast Asian-inspired fictional world 500 years since the presumed death of the last dragon isn’t without its issues, but, generally, it represents a bold new step for Disney animation when it comes to setting and authentic cultural inspiration. Most Disney Princesses have hailed from Eurocentric stories and origins, but, with Southeast Asian Raya and Polynesian “Princess” Moana before her, Disney finally seems to be recognizing the wide world of real-life cultures from which they can (responsibly) draw. While this can be and is a slippery slope as Disney has a history of…
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01 Mar

The Horror Influences of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan

Netflix, New DVD release, , , ,
This article contains spoilers for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is beloved by shounen anime fans for its nonstop action, absurd and over-the-top showdowns, and creative Stands (physical manifestations of one’s true self). It’s a bombastic series that defies predictions. We’re still waiting for the fifth part of the manga, Stone Ocean, to be released as an anime adaptation, and the story is still ongoing. Strangely, there’s still no confirmation that a fifth season is even coming yet. In the meantime, however, we got something of a holdover: Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan. An adaptation…
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27 Feb

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episode 8

New DVD release, , ,
This article contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 8. Like episode 4 before it, WandaVision episode 8 drops the show’s sitcom homage format entirely to delve deeper into the context of the world outside the hexagon and Wanda’s own history. That doesn’t mean, however, that “Previously On…” still doesn’t find the time to shout out some classic television. In fact, this penultimate installment may feature WandaVision’s most important sitcom reference yet by taking things back to the very first episode with the help of The Dick Van Dyke Show. Allow us to explain… The Dick Van Dyke Show As Agatha takes…
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19 Feb

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episode 7

New DVD release, , ,
This article contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 7. From its very first trailer, WandaVision made it abundantly clear that it would be paying homage to some classic sitcoms throughout TV history. But for some reason, it was hard to imagine just how far into TV history the show would actually make it.  WandaVision’s seventh episode, “Breaking the Fourth Wall” borrows its format from some very recent classics like The Office and Modern Family. Wanda, Vision, Agnes, and even Darcy take their turns in front of the camera to offer up their thoughts on their zany day-to-day lives. It may be…
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12 Feb

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episode 6

New DVD release, , ,
WandaVision episode 6 “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!” finds Wanda Maximoff accelerating the situation in Westview quite a bit. The children are all allowed out of their homes for a Halloween celebration and the very boundaries of the town are expanded. Fittingly for such an episode, the show’s sitcom homages experience quite a bump as well. After honoring Family Ties, Full House, and other ‘80s and early ‘90s TV comedies in episode 5, this installment speeds ahead to the more experimental 2000s. Fox’s superb Malcolm in the Middle is in the driver’s seat this time and both Tommy and Billy are our…
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05 Feb

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episode 5

New DVD release, , ,
This article contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 5. Last week’s WandaVision took a break from our regularly scheduled programming to check in with Monica Rambeau, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy Lewis as they studied the Westview Anomaly. It provided a much-needed dose of explanations and exposition. This week, however, WandaVision thrusts us right back into the sitcom world of Wanda Maximoff’s making. Sure, the cracks in Wanda’s facade are beginning to show a little more consistently. But even among Agnes’s fourth wall breaking, Norm’s mortal terror, and Vision’s sleuthing, episode 5 contains a truly impressive amount of sitcom homages. Let’s break…
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23 Jan

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episode 3

New DVD release, , ,
This article contains spoilers for WandaVision episode 3. In case you thought WandaVision’s sitcom homages were a passing fad, episode 3 “Now in Color” makes clear that the influences are here to stay…for now at least. Just as episodes 1 and 2 drew inspiration from The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie, so too does this third installment honor some classic TV series. Rather than hanging around the ‘50s or ‘60s, however, this episode bumps WandaVision up to gorgeous ‘70s technicolor. In speaking to reporters prior to the series premiere, director Matt Shakman revealed that the…
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16 Jan

WandaVision: The Sitcom Influences of Episodes 1 and 2

New DVD release, , ,
Marvel was never shy about promoting that its first Disney+ series, WandaVision, was inspired by classic TV sitcoms. The show’s trailers revealed its concept of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and The Vision (Paul Bettany) living a classic sitcom lifestyle, laughtrack and all. In the show’s posters, Wanda, Vision, and other characters like Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) are made up of literal TV sets. Producer/Marvel head Kevin Feige, head writer Jac Schaeffer, and director Matt Shakman all went through what they describe as a “sitcom school.” Still, even with all that forewarning, it’s hard to contain one’s surprise at just how seriously…
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18 Nov

The New Mutants and Its Nightmare on Elm Street Influences

New DVD release, , ,
This article contains mild The New Mutants spoilers. The New Mutants is an odd duck. The writing was on the wall back in 2017 when 20th Century Fox first pushed the film off its original 2018 release window. Apparently the delay was the result of the studio wanting to make it more of a horror movie via  reshoots… reshoots that then never happened. Even so, those horror elements are still on bonkers display in Josh Boone’s final cut of the film, now available on  Blu-ray and VOD. Even without knowing Boone was vocal that the  Nightmare on Elm Street movies…
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10 Jul

The Real UFO Influences Behind Skyman

New DVD release, ,
Daniel Myrick, the co-director and writer of the 1999 indie classic, The Blair Witch Project, has a new fictional documentary dealing with a subject he says he has a passion for, alien abduction. It’s called Skyman and it’s available on VOD and playing in drive-in theaters now. “I’ve always been fascinated with the subject matter,” Myrick tells Den of Geek. “When I was growing up in the late seventies and early eighties, everything from UFOs to Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, Bermuda Triangle, and the zeitgeists in those days, and sort of inspired me as a preteen to kind of start…
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17 Apr

The ’80s Martial Arts Movie Influences of Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge

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Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge is a bone-crunchingly brutal take on the beloved game franchise and the heart-wrenching backstory of the titular warrior, Hanzo Hasashi. The newest Warner Bros. animated offering is also stacked with homages to classic martial arts movies and ’80s action flicks that the creators, writer Jeremy Adams and executive producer Rick Morales, tell me was vital to their vision of Mortal Kombat, which Morales reveals made the R-rated animation “the movie that I’ve always wanted to make.” Watching Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge as an action fan, it’s easy to see where the team pulled from,…
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DVD Guide reviews current dvd releases of movies and TV shows. The reviews of these dvd releases are my thoughts and understandings of the movie, dvd releases or TV show and not be taken as fact.

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