Flasz On Film

Having completed the “film” part of my Year in Review series where I shared my favourite movies (and some more), plus some “shoulda–woulda–coulda titles” as well, I thought I’d also look back at my own writing output and compose a few list in what shapes up to be the “writing” part of this string of lists. Therefore, here are 5 articles I wrote in 2024 that ended up being clicked on the most.

5. PACIFIC RIM – A Franchise That Deserved Better

I had a lot of fun writing this piece and that’s only partially because I count myself among fans of this movie. I’ve got a special personal nostalgic connection to big robots and kaiju movies, as I grew up with them. Robot Jox is one of those gateway drug movies for me and I also happened to write about it last year. However, one of my favourite pastimes as a writer is finding value in cultural items others see as completely disposable (I may have written about Transformers movies way more than anyone I can name), reading into schlock as though I was fortune-telling from tea leaves and trying to bring some attention to movies that actually do need a champion. Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim was one such movie and I hope I did it justice. (Full Article Here)

4. 2010: The Year We Make Contact and Adding Context to Greatness

Peter Hyams-directed 2010: The Year We Make Contact turned forty this year. As luck would have it, we spoke quite a bit about Hyams on Uncut Gems Podcast, which also included an in-depth conversation about 2010, a movie which is often derided as inferior to 2001: A Space Odyssey and dismissed on principle. This is something that personally irks me because, while I admit the movie has many flaws, comparing it to one of the most accomplished works of cinema in history seems a bit unfair. In fact, I felt that Hyams managed to validate his movie’s existence exactly because he opted to make it more accessible and narratively straightforward. As such, he added some interesting context to Stanley Kubrick’s movie and I decided it was a cool enough idea to write about what that context is. (Full Article Here)

3. Carrie White – an Accidental Icon of American Folklore

My 50th Anniversary piece on the legacy of Stephen King’s Carrie ended up quite important for me personally, especially as it marked the beginning of my currently ongoing journey where I methodically make my way through King’s works and their adaptations, and then write about them (more articles in the series here). I had thought about this concept of seeing Carrie White as a pop-cultural equivalent of Jesus for a long while and penned what I also see as one of my personal favourite articles last year. (Full Article Here)

2. THE BEEKEEPER and the Curiously Unpretentious Corniness of a JOHN WICK Wannabe

I honestly don’t know why my review-adjacent piece on David Ayer’s The Beekeeper ended up as popular as it did, but I’m truly happy about that. Maybe it is a by-product of the title accidentally looking like clickbait with its reference to John Wick. I don’t know. Point is that I had enough fun with this utterly stupid movie and I hope my ramblings may have convinced at least one person out there to watch it (and maybe to give it a pass) and if I have to assume the mantle of a full-time Ayer apologist, I suppose this would be my cross to bear. (Full Article Here)

1. THE ABYSS, Moral Double Standards and Fragile Male Egos

This was a piece conjured out of pure frustration at the fact that James Cameron decided to pull the release of The Abyss from the UK after a spat with the BBFC. So I took it upon myself to vent this ire onto a page and perhaps have a look at both the ostensible lack of consistency when it comes to rating movies, the concept of cruelty to animals in moviemaking in general and the idea that James Cameron just couldn’t stoop to the request to remove literally two seconds of footage to let the movie through. And for some reason, it resonated with readers out there, or maybe it’s also partially a product of the fact I wrote it in January and it had more time to accrue views than some of my other essays. (Full Article Here)

And there you have it. These are the five pieces I wrote that got clicked on the most. There are some true favourites of mine here as well.