Posts Tagged ‘history’

What could "The Expendables" teach us, besides why you don't want to pick a fight with any of them?

Back at the beginning of Summer we gave a preview of three films that were to come out that have something in common. What these films share is a focus on a tight-knit group of ex-military soldiers who work towards a shared goal of some kind. With The Losers it was about getting revenge, with The A-Team it was about living up to one’s duties as a patriot, and with The Expendables it was about serving the human condition. As you may have noticed, the motivations of the groups got progressively nobler, from serving selfish incentives to fulfilling an intangible obligation to heroic morals; namely the moral that the strong have to protect the weak. The three movies, and by extension the three groups in these movies, may share a similar basic premise, and may interact within their respective contexts in a similar way, but their differing motivations distinguish them from each other more so than we may have anticipated. Likewise, they also shared more in common than we previously thought. What exactly, though, can we learn from comparing them further?

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What is it about this Robin Hood that has kept him from being as popular as previous incarnations?

Not much has been made so far about Ridley Scott’s newest film Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. The historical epic which attempts to tactfully incorporate elements of the centuries-old legend doesn’t seem to have won over the hearts of Americans like its creators were hoping, as after nearly two full weekends it has yet to top $70 million at the domestic box office (considering the production budget was a reported $200 million, such returns will be deemed relatively minimal by Universal). The film’s rating on RottenTomatoes.com is a pedestrian 45%, and on MetaCritic.com an unflattering grade of 53. Exactly what is it about the film that has audiences and critics keeping it at arm’s length? Read the rest of this entry »