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(A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) For a studio that releases a feature film once every three years, stop-motion animators Laika are always going to struggle maintaining momentum in a film industry that can reboot a franchises in less time. When the world of cinema is torn between blockbusters and streaming services, smaller film companies across the world all have to fight for brand loyalty; Laika aren’t alone in that contest. so, when the films coming out of a film studio are as consistently entertaining as they are for the stop motion studio, it’s a true shame to see such a fight for box office revenue. Missing Link comes 32 whole months after their last offering, the massively underrated Kubo and the Two Strings . It puts an alternative spin on the story of the Sasquatch and like Monsters Inc or Hotel Transylvania puts a usually-villainous protagonist at the center of a very human quest. Here, Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis) ...

(A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Firstly, a confession: your writer has never seen the two original  Hellboy  films. Call it laziness or a lack of preparation, but in this case it seems like the right move. Fan response to this curious reboot– it was as recently as September 2016 that actor Ron Perlman was hopeful for  Hellboy 3  – has not exactly been supportive, perhaps due to the dedicated popularity of Guillermo del Toro’s original duology. However, coming into this VERY R-rated reboot with a clean slate certainly does release Neil Marshall’s project from comparisons to its predecessor. One issue that seems to plague modern cinema’s often-rushed revivals is that they do not seek to create a new identity for themselves –  The Amazing Spider-Man , for example, seemed content to utilize the Dr. Connors/Lizard character that the Sam Raimi trilogy had set up in order to maint...

 (A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Given that they are both “fake” and/or “scripted”, it is strange that the worlds of professional wrestling and movie making aren’t married more often; after all, both fields demand a combination of skill and luck with an unknowable work ethic and dedication to succeed in. What’s more, the crossover appeal of Dwayne “The Rock”Johnson and his emerging successor John Cena show that it isn’t impossible for the mainstream to warm to wrestling’s larger-than-life characters. Despite all this, there exist only a handful of titles in the sub-genre of “wrestling films”. Mickey Rourke and Darren Aronofsky brought critical appeal from both worlds with the aptly-titled  The Wrestler  in 2008, but the only other film which springs to mind in the time since is 2018’s  Walk Like a Panther  – more of a parody of the grappling world's stereotypes than a celebration of it. So, there rema...

(A version of this article originally appeared on kernelnow.com / mynewslike.com) Off the bat, Shazam! seems like an odd choice for the next stage in the DC Extended Universe. This hero is a spell-powered, bright red, literal ‘man-child’ previously nicknamed ‘The Big Red Cheese ’and originally not even a DC property; releasing such a risky property before The Flash or whatever Batman does next certainly diverts from the expected Warner Bros strategy.  Curiously, it is a quick look across the battlefield to Marvel Studios that reveals method to this box office madness. Few could have predicted the popularity of Guardians of the Galaxy before August 2014, and the first hero of the Marvel Studios era – Iron Man – was a veritable nobody fortunate enough to be the most well-known character that wasn’t licensed out to another studio. Fine super-company to be keeping, and perhaps evidence of DC’s shrewdest on-screen move since WonderWoman replaced the Bat and the Cape as the Justice Leagu...