The Manchurian Candidate (2004) Updates The Original Movie For Better and For Worse

SPOILERS FOR BOTH VERSIONS OF THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE AHEAD

Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) is a hero. That's what everyone says. Responsible for saving the lives of nearly everybody in his platoon back in the early 1990s, Shaw has gone from being a legendary veteran to a potential Vice-President candidate. His former superior, Major Bennett Marco (Denzel Washington) spends his days prevailing people with tales of Shaw's courage. But what if the truth wasn't what it seemed? Recurring dreams that Marco and Shaw keep having indicate that maybe something else happened to Marco and Shaw's team on that fateful day on the battlefield. Maybe their minds were altered as part of a larger global conspiracy...and maybe that conspiracy has grisly plans for supposed hero Shaw.

Before Sunset Is Top-of-The-Line Romantic Drama Cinema

It took me six years, but I've finally watched all three of Richard Linklater's Before movies. I inadvertently decided to watch these in an order that is guaranteed to understandably make many people's skin crawl as I first watched Before Midnight in its initial theatrical back in July 2013 before finally getting around to Before Sunrise just last August and then finally coming around to Before Sunset on Valentine's Day 2019. This wasn't my long-game attempt to create some kind of Machete Order for viewing these three movies, it was merely my inability to watch the original two movies before seeing Before Midnight combined with me taking forever to get around to watching its two predecessors. 

Catwoman Review (Classic Write-Up)

In many superhero origin movies, there's that moment where our protagonist decides to finally fight crime and fulfill their potential as a superhero. Remember when Peter Parker realized he could have stopped the mugger that murdered his Uncle? Or when Tony Stark realized the consequences of his actions of selling weapons? Or when Scott Lang was offered the chance to become a better man by the kindly Hank Pym? All emotionally resonant sequences that emphasize who our lead is and why they're going down the path of superheroics. Catwoman also has a scene like this. After giving herself a major makeover, our hero, Patience Phillips (Halle Berry), hops onto a motorcycle, speeds around her city and then stops at a jewelry store to gaze at a necklace that has caught her fancy.