2020 has been a strange year for movies. The future of the theater, already in question with the rise of streaming services (and movie ticket costs) and recent developments such as MoviePass, became even murkier in a global pandemic. Many movie theaters closed in March and haven't opened since, including those in my home state … Continue reading Pixar installment Soul is worthy of holiday cheer
The following essay is part of an upcoming Riker Scale project. Enjoy! The distinction of favorite movie is a subjective one. Each person is entitled to their own taste in film, and the variety in film opinions is part of what makes talking about movies so fun. At the same time, I firmly believe that … Continue reading Why The Incredibles is the Greatest Movie of All Time
Every year, I update my list of my top 100 movies, the Riker Scale. On the list, I rate each movie from 1-100 (79 is the cutoff as of the 2020 edition) and include information such as rating, year and director. Maintaining the Riker Scale has been extremely fun over the years, and it serves … Continue reading The Riker Scale, Four Years Later
Back in 1995, animated classic Toy Story explored the premise of how the relationship between children and their toys can define a childhood. And as the trailblazing movie rose to historic relevance and wide acclaim, it also demonstrated the potential for movies themselves to be a central aspect of one’s childhood. For me, it was … Continue reading Toy Story 4 falls short of infinitely high bar
In previous years, I've come out with a list of my top 50 movies of all-time. This year, I decided to expand that total to 100, including five releases from 2017. Each movie is rated on a scale from 1-100, and since these are my top 100 movies, the range of these are from 77 … Continue reading My 100 favorite movies! Riker Scale 2018
Note: This is a Spoiler-Free Review Pixar endeavored into uncharted territory with its recent release Coco, a film unique for its focus on Mexican heritage and emphasized music element. Not only was Coco successful on both fronts, but it provided us a cinematic triumph and the best release for Pixar since Toy Story 3 in … Continue reading Coco hits all the right notes
How could a holiday top Thanksgiving? All you’re asked to do is eat delicious food, meet with relatives, watch football games, and be thankful! I’m grateful for so much this year, and what better way to express my gratitude than a column on my virtual man cave? These are some of the reasons I’m smiling … Continue reading Why I’m stuffed with gratitude this Thanksgiving
In June, I made the goal to watch five new movies by the end of the summer. But as I soon found out, five wasn’t enough to satisfy my cinematic appetite. My picks were all over the place- from an R-rated science fiction movie to a documentary to a musical to a superhero flick. These … Continue reading La La Land, Titanic, Spiderman Among Summer Movie Favorites
Note: The following post is based off a presentation that I gave in my Junior Seminar class last week. Since its inception in 1979, Pixar Animation Studios has revolutionized the movie industry. The studio started its work as a special effects branch of Lucasfilm and in 1986 was purchased by Steve Jobs. By that point, … Continue reading To Infinity and Beyond: How Pixar Uses Film Techniques to Drive Emotion
NOTE: Spoiler-Free Review As a big Pixar fan, I count any movie that they produce as a must-watch film. Even Cars 3, the last installment of an underwhelming trilogy. Coming in, I was expecting visually stunning and entertaining racing scenes and not much else. I wasn’t blown away by the movie, but I enjoyed the … Continue reading Cars 3: Third Time’s the Charm?
Riker's Block 