Comments on: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS: Birth of a Nation

By: Film Review of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris - 2011 | The Film Talk Movie Review Podcast

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:53:45 +0000

[...] The thing is, saying the name Gertrude Stein isn’t funny. It’s just a reference, and like X-MEN: FIRST CLASS winking at its characters’ well-established fates, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS mistakes allusion for [...]

By: Film Review of JJ Abrams' Super 8 - 2011 | The Film Talk Movie Review Podcast

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:47:10 +0000

[...] subplot that only gets to the end because it says so, not because it earns it. It’s becoming a theme of summer: what’s actually developed by a film works, or at least tries; what isn’t, on the other hand, [...]

By: Brandon Nowalk

Brandon Nowalk — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 06:51:07 +0000

Thanks, everyone! I think Jett/Gareth are right, too: If it weren’t an X-Men film, it would still be hopelessly patriarchal and thoughtlessly fatalistic, but it wouldn’t be so strongly at odds with 50 years of diversity and hope.

P.S. As a childhood X-Men fan, it’s still my favorite film in the franchise. Did that not come through?

By: tftpete

tftpete — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:12:23 +0000

I read this post yesterday and thought to myself, ‘Self, you gotta write a note to say how great this superhero flick review is.’ So I’m here to do just that, only to discover daveed’s getting it just right. I would only add that I hope Matthew Vaughn has enough going inside to appreciate being taken seriously for what he’s thrown up there on the screen. (One more thing: fall and winter months don’t work well as first names. I’m just saying.)

By: Ana

Ana — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:05:47 +0000

Hi Brandon, I appreciate that you mentioned “thoughtless patriarchal identification” in the first sentence of your well-written piece. It helped frame it for me. While I had fun watching X-Men, I agree with you that it missed the boat on both race and gender. Thanks for writing articles that critique the social/political undercurrents in film.

By: daveed

daveed — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:47:39 +0000

And he even manages to reference January Jones’s upper body mass at least three times. The boy’s got skills.

By: daveed

daveed — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:45:07 +0000

You will never find a more reasoned, intelligent and insightful review of a superhero movie than this. Good show, Mr Nowalk. There are a few online “film critics” in whose faces I’d love to shove a copy of this piece, saying, “THIS is how it’s supposed to be done!”