Located off the coast of Costa Rica, the Jurassic World luxury resort provides a habitat for an array of genetically engineered dinosaurs, including the vicious and intelligent Indominus rex. When the massive creature escapes, it sets off a chain reaction that causes the other dinos to run amok. Now, it’s up to a former military […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Avengers: Age of Ultron” — Deus ex Machina, and Our Search for Heroes
When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) jump-starts what is supposed to be a peacekeeping artificial super-intelligence called Ultron, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and the rest of the Avengers to re-assemble. As the fate of Earth hangs in the balance, the team is put to the […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Tomorrowland” — When Was the Last Time You Helped Build Tomorrowland?
When was the last time you left a movie theater feeling genuinely inspired? When was the last time you saw a movie which endorsed a better tomorrow without including a platitudinous caveat? When was the last time a movie didn’t make you regret letting your guard down, regret believing that happy endings are possible without […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Cinderella” — Why the Disney Movie Formula Works So Well
It’s hard to find any aspects of this age-old story that haven’t been analyzed to death. One could go on about how backwards it is when looking at it from a feminist’s perspective, or about how Cinderella is a terrible role model for young girls. I could flex my critical muscles by writing academically about […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Chappie” Asks Whether Artificial Intelligence Would Possess a Soul
In the near future, Johannesburg, South Africa has become the first city to have a largely mechanized police force. The force’s tactical automatons, called “scouts,” act as the proverbial tip of the spear during violent encounters, and are manufactured by the weapons contractor Tetravaal. There programmer Deon (Dev Patel) had been working to invent true […]
Dagger Movie Night: “Focus” — An Ambitious, Heady Thriller Aiming Lower for More Fun
We’re quickly approaching that post-Oscar portion of the calendar when the odds of coming across a worthwhile film are between slim and none. As with many Vegas sports gamblers after the Super Bowl, most distributors already either lost or won their biggest bets before the sweltering summer season of sensationalism begins. Yet hope springs eternal, […]
Dagger Movie Night: “The Duff” — Way Too Thoughtless and Offensive to Succeed
Cliff Bugle has joined The Dagger as our newest film critic: Cliff Bugle has been writing about movies since his early days at college, but his love for them goes as far back as his earliest memories. At NYU he earned a BA in Cinema Studies, followed by a MS in Writing from Towson University. […]
