EW’s 50 Most Powerful Superheroes list has absurd omissions
Commentary: An analysis of Entertainment Weekly’s list of elite superheroes.
Harry Potter/Wizarding World
Movies and TV shows John is looking forward to in 2016 (Commentary)
Here are some movies and TV shows on my radar in the year ahead: “The 5th Wave” (movie, Jan. 22) – Chloe Grace Moretz stars in this “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” riff. While the preview […]
Hermione Granger is black and white and read all over (Commentary)
The casting of black actress Noma Dumezweni as Hermione in J.K. Rowling’s new “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” stage play – set a couple decades after the books/movies – has opened up a minefield (or treasure […]
Why is Katniss Everdeen so reluctant to be a hero? (And why ‘Gotham’ features the rarest of heroes)
Movie and TV commentary: John Hansen examines the odd trend of fictional cinematic heroes who are initially unwilling to fight for what’s right.
Final ‘Harry Potter’ film ‘Deathly Hallows Part 2’ stylishly, bleakly goes through the motions (Movie review)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was my least favorite of J.K. Rowling’s books because the goal-oriented plot left little room for surprises: Harry and his friends need to destroy a handful of Horcruxes — […]
10 movies John wouldn’t mind seeing this summer (Commentary)
Although I dislike about 90 percent of wide releases nowadays, I still enjoy paging through the Entertainment Weekly summer movie preview and sifting out a few potential gems. Here are 10 summer movies I wouldn’t […]
John’s top 10 movies of 2010
I’d like to see “Somewhere” and “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” before making my top 10 movies list, but such is life in a small town, and I assume you don’t want to read a year-end list in […]
‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1’ does its artistic best with the Horcrux quest (Movie review)
After the heart-racing wonder of last year’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” it’s time to take a deep breath and slow down for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.” And — yawn — find some Horcruxes. […]
9 fall movies other than ‘Machete’ that might be worth checking out (Commentary)
I looked a little closer at my Fall Movie Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly and discovered that “Machete” isn’t the only movie coming out. Here are nine others that might be worth a look: “Easy A” (Sept. 17) — […]
John’s top 10 movies of 2009
I reserve the right to retroactively add “Adam” and “The Invention of Lying” to this list; living in a small town, I have to wait for DVD to see them. So these are my top 10 movies of 2009 […]