Blogcritics Author: Andy Sayers

Top 20 Comic Book Movies of All-Time

Andy Sayers — Mon, 6 Oct 2008 03:16:45 EDT

Ranking the best movies adapted from the world of comics.
I grew up a comic book fan, falling in and out of the habit as I got older. The times in my life where I stopped reading comics didn't have too much to do with the comics themselves (although they probably did at times parallel a downturn in quality in the X-Men, the primary series I collected), but more to do with a lack of funds or my other...

DVD Review: The Shield - Season One

Andy Sayers — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:14:28 EDT

Guided by strong performances and a unique take on the cop show genre, The Shield delivers a promising first season.
I've spent the past few years trying to catch up on all the great cable dramas of recent vintage that I missed (in part because until recently, most of them weren't covered here in Canada until a network would pick them up after they had started airing). It's been a mostly rewarding experience, but can be an expensive one (particularly...

The 2008 Andy TV Awards

Andy Sayers — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:35:32 EDT

Forget the Emmys. Here's what this year's TV Awards would look like if I was the sole voter selecting the nominees and winners.
The Emmy Awards are this weekend, and once again, the list of nominees are wrong. It's impossible to please everyone, but the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences make it especially hard. It's interesting: while the Oscars have drawn heat of late for the fact that their nominated pictures aren't widely seen productions, the Emmy...

Movie Review: Son of Rambow

Andy Sayers — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:19:15 EDT

A cute English indie that is long on charm but just short on execution.
Son of Rambow is the sort of quiet indie with foreign cred that is long enough on charm to get those who see it to champion it as the sort of warm-hearted comedy the masses should be seeing instead of the mass-produced simple fare that Hollywood keeps pumping out. I've already come across reviews with that sentiment, and to tell the truth,...

Movie Review: Tropic Thunder

Andy Sayers — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:50:40 EDT

The last thing the world needs is another Hollywood satire, but Hollywood continues to make them anyway.
Tropic Thunder features four things that tend to turn me off of comedies: it's expensive, high concept, heavily reliant on inside Hollywood humour, and it heavily features Ben Stiller. Any of those four elements could be enough to turn me against a comedy, but all four? There probably wasn't much chance that I'd be into this one.So why...

Movie Review: Joy Division (2007)

Andy Sayers — Mon, 4 Aug 2008 05:18:02 EDT

Grant Gee's documentary on the influential post-punk rockers is a must-see for fans, and a great introduction for non-fans.
Grant Gee's documentary Joy Division, based on the legendary post-punk rockers of the same name, made the festival circuit last year at the same time as Anton Corbijn's dramatic account Control. While Control received most of the attention and received theatrical distribution, most assumed that Gee's film would be relegated to special...

My Favourite Album for Every Year I've Been Alive

Andy Sayers — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:06:49 EDT

From Marquee Moon to Flight of the Conchords, my life in albums - one per year.
This is a list exercise that has made the blog rounds of late. I discovered it via Steve Hyden of the AV Club Blog, who in turn picked it up from Idolator. The premise is simple: list your favourite album for every year you've been alive.There are a couple different ways to go about this, with the most obvious being choosing what your favourite...

Movie Review: Is The Dark Knight the Best Comic Book Movie of All Time?

Andy Sayers — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:18:13 EDT

I have plenty to say about the film, but still I hesitate.
I saw this over opening weekend but have been putting off the review until now. It's tough, because this is the sort of movie I imagine readers might actually look forward to reading my opinion on, as much as anyone cares what my opinion on movies are (I have no delusions that you all have desperately checking your RSS feeds awaiting this or...

Concert Review: Aimee Mann at the Calgary Folk Music Festival, July 24

Andy Sayers — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:00:57 EDT

Aimee Mann delivers a beautiful set heavy on new material during her current tour stop in Calgary, Canada.
Before I get into this review, I'll admit straight out that I'm not an unbiased reviewer. Aimee Mann is one of my favourite artists, owing both to the fact that her melancholy songs are right up my alley (even though I'm a pretty happy guy, I'm drawn to sad music) and the fact that she's always been the first act on my iPod, so...

Movie Review: WALL-E

Andy Sayers — Mon, 7 Jul 2008 07:12:47 EDT

With WALL-E, Pixar proves yet again that they're playing at a much higher level than all their competitors.
Some might think I'm too harsh on blockbuster genre films, that I shouldn't hold them to an artistic standard and instead enjoy the mindless fun they offer -- that since these movies, be they shoot 'em up action films or silly animated family fare, aren't designed to be thought about, I should cut them some slack when it's...