One of the keenest pleasures found in moviegoing is that of competence porn. A great comedy can flood your brain with endorphins, a solid horror movie can unnerve you days after you saw it, and the right drama can restore your faith in the essential decency of humanity. Even the much-maligned superhero genre can, when executed properly, provide viewers with something mythic. That’s all well and good, but I really dig films about smart people doing a particular job with intelligence and competence. Consider Apollo 13, a film I absolutely adore. On the one hand, I understand perhaps 25 percent... Read More

The superhero genre is usually designed to be a perpetual motion machine. Characters keep going through movies, comics, video games, every medium you can think of. They live through decades, change with them, reflect their values and priorities. As a result, smart writers like Grant Morrison, Gail Simone, and Mark Waid have been able to see the potential inherent in the genre and tell a wide variety of stories involving superpowered folks that are complex, challenging, and human. A superhero movie doesn’t have to be a dull origin, a cackling villain, and a swirling portal of death in the... Read More