the apple box

INTRODUCING: The Index

/ Chris Luckett / Leave a comment

Screen Shot 2016-07-31 at 4.57.57 AM

Chris Luckett

You’ve probably noticed the introduction of red, underscored links within reviews and Core Stories I’ve written over the last few months, directing you to other reviews within The Apple Box and cross-referencing my content.

The trouble is, “The Apple Box” has existed in many forms. Back in 2012, when it launched in its original form, it lived at http://the-apple-box.blogspot.ca, before I began using the domain http://www.appleboxreviews.ca. Cost-cutting measures in 2015 led to a temporary migration to https://appleboxreviews.wordpress.com, until settling lastly into its present home at http://www.appleboxreviews.com.

Unfortunately, as articles have shifted from site to site, many URLs no longer worked — and hundreds of my earlier reviews were either trapped at different web sites or lost in the online ether. But no longer.

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An Unfortunate Reality

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Photo: Scott Summerhayes

Photo: Scott Summerhayes

Chris Luckett

In 2012, I launched The Apple Box. I’d spent 15 years immersing myself in movies by that point, and a decade publishing my reviews and opinions on films on various sites, going all the way back to old Xanga and MySpace pages of mine. At the recommendation of my professors at Mohawk College, though, I went full ahead with a dedicated film site.

In the years since, I’ve used it for awards coverage, “Best Of” lists, editorials, podcasts, videos, monthly features, and interviews. And, of course, reviews. Lots of reviews. Continue reading →

REVIEW: 10 Cloverfield Lane

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Photo: Paramount Pictures

Photo: Paramount Pictures

Chris Luckett

One of the most fascinating characters on the J.J. Abrams-produced series Lost was Desmond Hume, a man who had spent a 3-year portion of his life living underground in a bunker filled with ‘60s technology, hoodwinked by a man who convinced Desmond he’d saved him from a epidemic and that to leave would be to expose himself to a deadly plague. The two-hour episode that showed his whole ordeal in flashback is considered by many to be not just one of the best episodes of the show but of modern broadcast television.

The fact that J.J. Abrams wasn’t involved in the creation of 10 Cloverfield Lane (which was originally titled The Cellar, until Abrams changed the title to juxtapose it with his 2008 monster movie, Cloverfield) makes this a fascinating case of full-circle art, as the movie is, for the most part, that very same two-hour episode of Lost. But while Lost had to keep itself open to more seasons of possibilities, 10 Cloverfield Lane is free to aim for the sky and reach as high as they dare. Continue reading →

OSCARS 2016: If I Gave the Oscars…

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Photo: Lionsgate

Photo: Lionsgate

Chris Luckett

Tomorrow’s the Super Bowl of movies: The Oscars. More than in most years, the 88th Academy Awards’ nominations are relatively fair in recognition of what actually was the best in cinema in 2015. Of course, as protested snubs like Ridley Scott and Idris Elba illustrate, what’s nominated for Oscars is never exactly what you’d think should be. Now, if I nominated the Oscars… Continue reading →

SPECIAL: The Best Movies of 2015

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Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Chris Luckett

Last year, in my Best Movies of 2014 article, I commented on how weak a year we’d had. If only I’d known what 2015 would be like!

For the first time since I launched The Apple Box in 2011, I don’t have 25 movies to strongly recommend. I’ve always said the only movies that deserve to be on a “Best of the Year” list are 4½- and 5-star films, and standing by that, that leaves me with 17. Just 17 movies last year, out of the nearly 150 that I saw, were good enough to write home about.

There were far more average or mediocre movies compared to great ones last year, but that doesn’t mean 2015 was a wash, by any means. These 17 movies, in fact, feel all the more special by being surrounded by weaker fare than usual. These films reminded us all that no matter how bad a year’s cinematic crop, there will always be brilliant movies. Continue reading →

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SPECIAL: The Worst Movies of 2015

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Photo: Image Entertainment

Photo: Image Entertainment

Chris Luckett

As with every year, the day before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences celebrates the best films 2015 had to offer, the Razzie Awards will mock the year’s very worst cinematic turkeys. In much the same way, what better way to precede The Apple Box’s upcoming Best Movies of 2015 feature than looking back at the year’s very worst? Continue reading →

RANKED: Pixar

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Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Chris Luckett

Before Marvel Studios became the reigning king of releasing hit after hit, the master was Pixar. In the ‘00s, it seemed anything they touched was guaranteed to be brilliant. They may have lost the alchemical formula in recent years, but even the worst Pixar movies are still most watchable than many other modern animated movies. Continue reading →

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GUEST COLUMN: When Film Directors Do TV

/ Chris Luckett
Photo: ABC

Photo: ABC

Chris Zois

The world of television is usually looked down on by others in the entertainment industry, but TV has hit its stride over the past few years and movies may have to watch their backs.

Movies tend to be a director’s medium and television a writer’s medium. You’ve got your Milchs, Sorkins, and Weiners, who run their shows with iron fists. And you’ve got hired-gun directors who are just trained to keep the ship afloat. But Andy Greenwald of Grantland recently wrote that there are a few A-list TV directors out there. Some major filmmakers have tried their hand at directing episodes for the idiot box, notably Steven Soderbergh with The Knick.

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