Written by: Dan Geer

It would probably be an understatement to say that Star Wars: The Last Jedi has had an “interesting” ride since its theatrical release back in December 2017. On one side of the spectrum, it received rave reviews from both critics and fans alike, while on the other side garnered some of the most vicious reactions from viewers. As time progressed, negative reception to this film seemed to bring more and more people over to the Dark Side to the point where fan reception is now pretty much split right down the middle. Some people really hate this film. They hate it with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Others think it is one of the best Star Wars films of all time, praising it for being bold and doing something new for a change. Both sides will fight to the death for their position.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Star Wars fandom.

While there are all sorts of complaints about the film – with everything from flying Leia, to the apparent necessity of the entire Canto Bight plot – the one thing that really seems to have set the haters over the edge more than anything else is its portrayal of Luke Skywalker. This, above all else, seems to be the thing that makes the film so unforgivable for these people.

But are their perceptions valid? Is Luke Skywalker really not portrayed “correctly” here? Let’s dive in and see if we can’t pick things apart a bit and perhaps put this whole thing into perspective…

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Written By: Dan Geer

In order keep this as spoiler free as possible, this review will refrain from discussing details about anything that was not already in the trailers and TV spots.

“Breathe. Just… BREATHE. Now, reach out with your feelings….”

By “feelings,” I mean the way you felt growing up watching Star Wars films – with a wild-eyed, childlike sense of wonder in the beginning, who continued finding new and fascinating things to love and appreciate about these movies as you grew into adulthood. Everything from the exciting characters, action sequences, droids, ships and lightsaber battles – all the way deep down into the incredibly intriguing myth and lore of it all. Get ready to experience that entire fan journey all in one film with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

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Written by: Dan Geer

It seems like only yesterday that PopcornMonster.com was created. I never would have thought it would still be around a decade later, but here we are!

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Written By: Dan Geer

Every year since 2015, we’ve been getting a new Star Wars film thanks to Disney, and there are no signs of the franchise slowing down. This year marks the return of beloved characters from The Force Awakens entering into what appears to be very dark territory in Star Wars: The Last Jedi – the next episode of the sequel trilogy.

How should we walk into this film? What should we expect? We know that The Force Awakens echoed various beats from A New Hope (albeit while still delivering an incredible new story at the same time, despite what some may say). Will The Last Jedi do something similar with The Last Jedi and echo The Empire Strikes Back? Will all our questions be answered? Will characters do what we expect, or perhaps go down a path that we did not see coming, or do not want, for that matter? Will it finally be confirmed that Snoke is really Jar Jar Binks?

We all desire the film to succeed. It is almost impossible to not have expectations. But let’s just get a few pointers out of the way prior to walking into this film, before we totally ruin our perceptions of it walking out. We want to actually like the movie, don’t we? Read on…

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Written By: Dan Geer

Let’s just get this out of the way before I proceed with this article, because I do not want to come off as being overly critical…

I loved the latest 6-episode season of The X-Files. I really enjoyed both the mythology as well as the standalone “monster of the week” episodes. It both reintroduced the mystery back into the mythology that we all thought we understood for over a decade since the original series ended back in 2002, and the standalone episodes gave us great stories we never had in previous seasons. Of course, Darin Morgan’s “Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster” episode was probably the highlight of the season. Simply fantastic!

However, as tradition has it, Season 10 concluded on a cliffhanger like all previous seasons of The X-Files did. It left us with a ton of unanswered questions. The season was too short to really flesh it all out. It only makes sense that Season 11 now has a big responsibility to fulfill in answering, or at least clarifying how the “new” conspiracy ties in with the old.

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Written By: Dan Geer

Ever since the untimely and unfortunate passing of actress Carrie Fisher last December, fans of the Star Wars saga have wondered how this will affect the sequel trilogy and the role of General Leia for Star Wars: Episode IX (she already completed filming for Star Wars: The Last Jedi before she passed).

To be honest, fans are a bit worried. It’s probably not the most appropriate feeling to immediately have after the death of a human being, but it is understandable. The writers and director Colin Trevorrow really have a conundrum on their hands.

It really comes down to this for everyone: Should they write the character out of the story, or should they recast? This is quite a loaded question, but one that I think has a pretty clear answer.

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Written By: Dan Geer

In the last couple of decades, it has become increasingly apparent that there has been a paradigm shift in terms of how audiences watch and enjoy movies. While film criticism has been around for as long as I can remember, it seems as if your average modern-day cinephiles have become more critical than ever, and as a result have enjoyed films much less in the last couple of decades than they did in the decades prior. What went wrong?

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Source: Matty Granger Facebook | The Huffington Post | Posted By: Dan Geer

So it has been a few weeks since J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens hit theaters and broke just about every box office record known to mankind. Reviews have been very positive overall. However, the pendulum has started to sway the other way a little bit, with some reviews even pointing out supposed plot holes or flaws in the film. One such article from The Huffington Post, titled “40 Unforgivable Plot Holes in Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” attempts to lay out extensively just how flawed the film allegedly is, and many people have re-posted this article time and time again, commenting on how they actually agree with the article.

I was going to write a rebuttal on this, but a man by the name of Matty Granger (The Granger Brothers) beat me to the punch and posted one himself, addressing (in “colorful” language, mind you) each and every point laid out by The Huffington Post’s Seth Abramson. The article not only easily refutes these “plot holes” for the most part, but also agrees very much with the reason PopcornMonster.com was started in the first place, which is to get people to think twice when it comes to film. To quote Granger, “…sadly all it takes is a bold, contrarian statement to convince people who aren’t interested in doing research for themselves that something wildly incorrect is truth.”

Click here for the Huffington Post article, then read Granger’s amusing rebuttal here. When you’re done, read below for a few more points that I personally address about the film that aren’t brought up in either article, but have been also debated at length in various fanboy circles. Just my lengthy attempt to help people enjoy the film as much as I do (possible spoilers ahead)…

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Source: iTunes Trailers | Posted By: Dan Geer

The trailer to end all other trailers is here.

Today, Black Friday, we get our first glimpse of official footage from J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Episode VII of the Star Wars Saga). Until now, we knew next to nothing about this film when compared with any of the other sequels/prequels in the Star Wars Saga. Today, that all changes.

It’s best if I say no more, so just head on over to iTunes Trailers to watch 88 seconds of footage from the most anticipated movie since The Phantom Menace, then head back to this article for my initial reaction to the trailer.

Update: Trailer also embedded below in HD, along with my initial reaction.

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Written By: Brandon Engel

The United States of America has proved itself excellent at quite a few things, but one expertise that this fine nation has taken from a rude practice into a precise science is the concept of marketing and the upcoming holiday season is the perfect evidence of said mastery. The day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday as it is colloquially known, is the official beginning of the Christmas/Holiday season and while the ideal of the holiday season involves good cheer, charity, and thankfulness, those qualities generally fade away amidst the maelstrom of bargain hunters prepared to draw blood for their favorite brands. Yet, despite the fact that the holiday season may or may not have been hijacked by consumerism, it has never faltered as a good reason to spend some quality time with one’s family. While most of the country may look at this upcoming season through White Christmas-inspired rose-colored glasses, there is a still a minority of those rebellious tradition-breakers who seek to celebrate the holidays in their own way and in that vein of thought, here’s a list of some of the best movies to watch on Black Friday for those with a slightly darker disposition.

Spoiler alert: There is no Santa Claus.

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