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The 40 Year-Old-Critic: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Star Wars’ greatest legacy may not be the (now endless) sequels, or the billions of dollars in box office revenue, or even the tens of billions of ancillary revenue the franchise has generated for Lucasfilm (now Disney). No, the longest lasting impact of Star Wars may be the people inspired by that film saga to go on and create themselves.
Arnie C
The 40 Year-Old-Critic: Saw (2004)
Though the creators of Saw would later claim the film was not torture porn, it was clearly the template for the dominant horror movement of the mid-2000s. Saw progressed through the scenes with characters put in increasingly more complex and convoluted traps, and I had the visceral reaction I’d sought. This movie did not scare me as Blair Witch did, but it repulsed me. I would flinch every time the next test came, knowing that the pain inflicted on the characters was fictional, but yet it hit home just the same.
The 40 Year-Old-Critic: Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
The fact that Freddy vs. Jason is the only movie to be covered twice in Now Playing Podcast retrospectives is indicative of its importance — to film in general and to me personally.
Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest
It’s not unusual for the children of Gatlin to kill their parents. What is unusual is for those children to then move to a foster home in Chicago. But that…
Arnie Carvalho
The 40 Year-Old-Critic: Attack of the Clones (2002)
The second film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy was not only a much-needed course correction for the saga, but it also represents a major turning point in my life.
The 40 Year-Old-Critic: Donnie Darko (2001)
What is Donnie Darko? I couldn’t answer the question after the first time I saw it, and after multiple viewings, my interpretation continued to evolve.
