In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, The Cosmic Weirdness, Fun And Interesting Characters Are In Full Supply!

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has done a lot of things right, but man, it took 'em a while to get a handle on doing their second movies in individual franchises right. Their first one of these specific type of features, Iron Man 2, is still by far the weakest and most narratively messy MCU film while their next effort in this area was Thor: The Dark World, a heavily flawed fantasy movie with some elements of fun scattered throughout. Right after Thor: The Dark World, they finally got one of these movies right with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and continued that trend with the gonzo yet thoughtful Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Now, you may be pondering to yourself right now, is Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 more on the order of Iron Man 2 or Captain America 2?

Slither Review (Classic Write-Up)

The single most important question you must ask yourself prior to watching Slither is the age old inquiry "Do I want to watch an extremely gory movie where extraterrestrial mind-controlling slugs lay waste to a small Southern town?" If so, well, Slither should more than satisfy, as it excels as not only living up to all the gross-out potential premise, but also in having some well-written characters and examples of strong acting from the likes of Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Series Premiere Review

For the majority of comics brought to the big screen, there are a number of previous incarnations of characters like Spider-Man, Batman or the X-Men in the form of traditional comic books as well as television and even past film adaptations. These can provide inspiration on how to properly or improperly treat the character, as well as lend audiences a preconception of the characters they're about to watch in this new movie. For the Guardians of The Galaxy, though the term had existed in the Marvel universe since 1967, the team roster consisting of Star-Lord and Groot has only existed for seven years. Compared to the likes of Captain America, Superman or even Spawn, these Guardians were nobodies in the pop culture landscape.

The Avengers: Age of Ultrons Record Breaking Thursday Night Numbers Point To A Huge Weekend

Yesterday, I predicted The Avengers: Age of Ultron would take in a whopping $22 million from Thursday night screenings, which proved to be off by about 25%. It turns out that the newest Avengers adventure wound up making $27.6 million last night, 48% up from the first Avengers movie and by far the biggest Thursday night numbers for any MCU movie. To boot, it's the sixth biggest Thursday night grosser of all-time, behind the final Harry Potter movie, The Dark Knight Rises and the last three Twilight films.

Can We Start Giving Superhero Movies Some Respect: Part Two: Electric Insult Boogaloo

Well hey! Like anything that's successful, here's a sequel to my earlier editorial surrounding the topic of giving superhero movies some respect. It's a subject that I'm not alone in advocating for, as someone very high up in the industry has spoken out in favor of giving superhero films some respect from people. What's triggered this kind of chitter chatter, and this editorial sequel, you ask?

Final 2015 Oscar Nominees Predictions!!!

Two days from now, the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards will be announced, ending months of speculation over who will get into the massively prominent awards ceremony. Right now I'll be attempting to predict the nominees for 13 of the 24 categories at the Oscars. God knows how accurate I'll be, but let's get things started, shall we?

My 12 Favorite Movie Trailers Of 2014

You won't see a ton of "Best of 2014" lists on this site at this time of the year, mainly because a good chunk of notable 2014 movies (Inherent Vice, Selma, American Sniper) won't come to a theater near me until mid-January. Expect lists revolving around my favorite 2014 features around that time, but I'll still toss a few retrospective lists in the next few days, starting with the one, which covers my 12 favorite 2014 trailers.

Nine Actors Who Deserve Oscar Recognition This Year, But Won't Get It

The Academy Awards are a confounding presence in Hollywood, their awards have a major impact on any given winner or nominees life. However, the ceremony seems to have a stern refusal to give notice to anything that utilizes comedy, action or animation, a bizzare practice that means much of Hollywoods best features get no recognition. A similar lack of recognition is inevitable for these eight actors, whose roles this year were superb showcases of their talent, but due to numerous factors (release dates namely) won't be given proper recognition. Without further ado, here's Nine Actors Who Deserve Oscar Recognition This Year, But Won't Get It!

Wanna See Bradley Cooper Doing The Voice Work For Rocket Raccoon?? (From The Interwebs)

A slow news day today (nobody wanted to compete for media attention with the Paul Blart 2 trailer coming out later today) doesn't mean there's nothing to talk about in the world of pop culture. The super duper buzzed drama Whiplash finally enters over 400 theaters this coming weekend, and CBS Films is now getting some distribution help from Lionsgate. But here's something guaranteed to brighten up your day; Bradley Cooper doing some voice work for Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of The Galaxy. Check it out below!

Box Office Analysis: Brad Pitt Looms Over Channing Tatum And Ben Affleck

Box Office Analysis is back from the dead this week, though I'm trying a new format where I take more of a larger look at a number of films at the box office instead of just one particular movie or topic. 

Editorial: Can We Start Giving Superhero Movies Some Respect?

The writer with the largest presence on Rope of Silicon, Brad Brevet, used to be one of my favorite writers when it came to the world of cinema, but sometime last summer, a shift happened in his writing. It was like a switch flipped in his brain or something, every single thing he wrote was dripping in gratuitous cynicism. Now, a cynical approach is not only a perfectly fine way to write pieces on movies, it can be a great angle if one does it in a successful fashion. Unfortunately, Brevet has made it tiring to read his endless mean-spirited attitudes towards blockbuster filmmaking.

An Official Dancing Baby Groot Toy Is On The Way!

With over $323 million made at the box office, not to mention rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, Guardians of The Galaxy has become a cinematic phenomenon. But perhaps the most memorable bit from the No. 1 movie of 2014 (aside from everything else in the movie....and that Jackson Pollack joke) is the final scene of the film, which depicts a baby version of Groot dancing to Jackson 5's I Want You Back.

Box Office Predictions: Dolphins Should Swim Away With Lots of Cash

After some slower weekends at the box office, two new releases (And a third potential one depending on final theater counts) aim to liven things up. They should be successful in this mission, but let's take a look at these new movies and their chances at box office glory.

Box Office Analysis: A Quick Look At September 2014 Cinema

Well, with the traditionally lousy post-Labor Day weekend out of the way, there's really nowhere to go but up for September 2014. While this coming weekend will pare in comparison to the same weekend in 2013 when Insidious Chapter 2 reigned supreme, there are much larger movies than usual opening at the end of the month, meaning this particular September could be one of the biggest in history.

Box Office Predictions: Guardians Will Win Again On Worst Weekend of 2014

Well, it's a quiet weekend, to put it gently. In fact, I'm gonna make a wild guess that this becomes one of the worst box office weekends in the 21st century. The only major new wide release is The Identical, which is taking advantage of the slow weekend by opening in 1950 theaters.

Editorial: Guardians of The Galaxy And It's Beautiful Connection To Autism

Massive Spoilers For Guardians of The Galaxy follow.

The photo above was posted on James Gunns Facebook on Friday, and man did it make my entire day. As someone on the Autism spectrum (Aspergers Syndrome to be exact), it just warmed my heart to see someone else on the spectrum finding inspiration in one of the many delightful characters from Guardians of The Galaxy. Seeing that movie again yesterday, I was once again amazed at just how all around excellent it is, and honestly found it to be even better than I remembered. As the crowd departed the auditorium after that delightful post-credits scene, I had a big grin on my face from the entire film, as well as realizing that two of the Guardians are perfect cinematic representations of people on the Autism spectrum.

Summer Movie Memories: How Did One Of The Worst Movies Of the Summer Became A Smash Hit?

Up until Labor Day, I'll be looking at seven different summer movies from Summer 2014 and analyzing what really made them stand out this summer, for reasons both good and bad. Obviously, SPOILERS for Maleficent lie ahead. 

Box Office Predictions: Guardians of The Galaxy Will Stay Above November Man

Well, here we are. The final weekend of the summer. Two new wide releases will try to squeeze some last minute cash from your wallet, but they'll likely be ineffective at taking down Rocket Raccoon and the gang from the top spot. Let's get to predicting the box office shall we?

Box Office Analysis: What Went Wrong With Sin City 2?

Box office disappointments are a common occurrence, but a genuine box office flop? Those weren't every day events decades ago, but in this day and age, they're as rare as anything else in the film business. You can thank international box office for that; so much money can be made internationally now it's almost impossible for a film to truly lose money. But they do happen once in a blue moon, like when R.I.P.D. made an anemic $33 million in America, and only $44 million internationally for a $78 million total that didn't come close to recouping its whopping $130 million budget.

Box Office Predictions: Slow Weekend Will Lead Sin City To Not Stay Victorious

After a couple weeks of major movies opening up (including two weekends in a row which each brought a $60 million opener, both in August no less!), things slow down as the season of summers does the same. Three new movies open up this weekend, but none look to do particularly notable business. Let's dive in and take a look!