Tonight I am going to see The Dark Knight again...for the first time. After weeks of anticipation, I finally went to see the IMAX experience only to have the power cut out half-way through. More when I get around to seeing the whole thing.
The Cardinal Review Version 3.0
After the Oscars I was forced to reexamine my relationship to The Cardinal Review and how much non-rent earning time I could devote. Because of this introspection, the site has been stagnant for four, going on five, months - in the height of Blockbuster season no less. Sorry...
However, This time away has given me a chance to figure out how to make TCR better and to keep it from getting too ambitious. TCR is first and foremost a place where Steve, Kevin, and I can share our thoughts on what the film industry has sent to devour our hard-earned pay and which films are not worth the price of admission. [Answer: Anything by M. Night Shyamalan and The Love Guru.] I am happy to announce that we have figured out a way to balance the site with our lives and that we are going to return to posting. I hope that you will return to check out our opinions from time to time.
For those familiar with the site, you might have noticed a couple slight changes. The Weekly Rant is now simply The Rant and the list of reviews for Next Week has become Upcoming Reviews. They key change here is that we are no longer going to attempt weekly publication. Instead we are going to roll with life as it comes and work on writing quality reviews and not ones that are pinned down by deadlines. What does this mean for you? We will have a couple weekly items, but the rest will be updated on the fly. You can still expect weekly updates showcasing US releases (top right) and we are still going to have weekly Quirk Quiz challenges (below) where you can enter to win a book from our sponsor Quirk Books Press.
The other material on the site, namely the reviews and The Rant, will be posted on a slightly less regimented schedule. But how will you know when we have updated you ask? Well, in two ways. The first is simple: check in often! The second is a bit more practical: Sign up for our RSS Feed. Our new feed will no longer be a digest of what you can find on the site, but instead feature the full reviews and Rants. That's right, you can get all of our information delivered directly to your digital doorstep without having to keep checking to see if we updated! Add us and get every review and The Rant the moment it is posted. Never again will you miss any of our blathering about film and the film industry.
Of course that means you will need to check in on the site to answer the Quirk Quiz (which will now be posted new EVERY MONDAY) and to vote in our not-so-popular-but-slightly-amusing poll questions. I am gonna see what I can do to make them a little flashier btw...
Summer Recap
With all that stuff out of the way, it is now time to get down to business. And since you obviously have not read any other reviews or ventured our of the house without us to lead you, I will fill you in on what you missed in the past couple months. February through April, nothing really happened; there were a bunch of bad comedies. In May, Summer finally kicked off with one of the most anticipated films of the year: Iron Man. Easily one of my favorite films this summer, Robert Downey Jr. does an incredible job with one of the best Marvel films to date. I am eagerly looking forward to the sequel, as for the first time in a while (ok, Batman Begins did a better job of course) the elements are all in place for the next round.
The other big summer films have not met their hype. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the biggest let down I have had since the latest round of Star Wars films. Did you hear me George?! RETIRE! It was great to see Harrison back in the fedora, but there was no motivation for the film other than flashy action. In the same mediocre camp, the incredibly ballyhooed and female-atteneded Sex and the City made me want to vomit. Firstly, the film did not need 2.5 hours to show us what we knew was going to happen. Spoiler: They break up and get back together....SHOCKER! And second, do we really need a film like this glorifying shallow, materialistic bitter people? For the best review ever, read Anthony Lane's brilliant critique in the New Yorker.
For those of you looking for a bit more meat, while retaining some of the eye candy Tarsem's The Fall provides some of the most incredible imagery you will ever see (unfortunately it is to the detriment of the plot). You will also not be disappointed with the breathtaking story of Genghis Khan's early years in Mongol. Those two aside, two of the year's best films also had release dates this May. My favorite film of the year so far Son of Rambow (full review very soon) and the incredibly touching and relevant The Visitor may not still be around, but are ones you should put very high on your NetFlix queues. They are not to be missed.
I could not bring myself, thankfully due to my work hours, to induce brain atrophy by watching Don't Mess with the Zohan, the seizure-causing Speed Racer, another 70's remake: Get Smart, the ubiquitously panned Love Guru, or M. Night's newest dud The Happening. If I get a chance, I may see Wanted, Wall-E, or Edward Norton's The Incredible Hulk re-do, but I probably won't. There are many better films to look forward to and I am just counting the days till The Dark Knight.
Welcome back!
~Chris
