Just like how rules were meant to be broken, prisons were meant to be broken out of, and movies have literally and figuratively given us much escapist entertainment over the years. Prison movies are especially fun when we’re not just talking iron bars. A great number of filmmakers over the years have imagined prisons of [...]

One of the first ever posts on Movie Muse was my Top 10 Superhero films, a celebration of a genre near and dear to my heart, or at least one that I love to dissect more than most considering I’m a product of the superheroes on TV/film era. Yet as many triumphs as we’ve witnessed [...]

Few actors have a career comparable to that of Liam Neeson’s. The Irish-born actor didn’t really hit the map until he was nearly 40, yet he’s known as a dedicated and gifted thespian with the chops for an occasional mean streak. Neeson forged his career on a reputation for playing historical figures including Oskar Schindler, [...]

It’s time to put a lid on the movie year of 2011 and bury it deep, deep within the recesses of the earth. As I’ve done the last couple years, it’s time to reflect on some of the emerging trends within the world of Hollywood. Below you’ll find a series of bold statements about the [...]

You’re probably so over 2011 right now. You probably have no interest in the Top 10 Films of 2011 anymore, but allow me to explain why it took until Jan. 3 to publish this list. 2011 left something to be desired at the movies — and that’s being nice. Each year tends to be full of [...]

If you had to name the most famous fictional movie houses, you’d mostly come up with the haunted ones. Houses hardly end up as the main characters or the sole location for an entire film unless they’re haunted or something’s up. Even the best mansions and castles are the ones crawling with something not of [...]

Robots are still the future, right? Or at least androids? Hopefully there’s still a high demand for artificial intelligence like all the great sci-fi authors predicted, otherwise who is going to do stuff for us in the future like fight our battles and take care of our children? Last weekend’s “Real Steel” envisioned a time when boxers [...]

Baseball might have lost a ton of ground to football in popularity, but it’s still America’s pastime. And frankly, the tide can change quickly in football (only three NFL teams haven’t made the playoffs in the last 8 years), but in baseball, a chance to win the World Series doesn’t come around all that often. [...]

For the third year in a row, I present to you my list of five stars who are bound to break out after big roles or impressive performances this summer. Why do I sound so confident? Because my track record is pretty good. Here’s last year’s list, for example. Although strangely a lot of those [...]

Looking back at last year’s blockbuster season, other than the great “Inception Exception,” Summer 2010 stunk. This summer was packed to the gills with options to say the least, and despite maybe not having any excellent films like “Inception” or “Toy Story 3,” top to bottom, 2011 was 11 times better. Only August disappointed, but [...]

Many a movie character has been made in the mold of the small-time crook. Ask the Coen brothers, for example; they’ve made a career on films about ordinary people trying to do brazen (and usually illegal) things. As morally outstanding movie-goers (perhaps I should speak just for myself), we identify with these characters because we [...]

I continue celebrating Movie Muse’s second birthday by listing the 25 most beautiful brown-haired ladies on the big (and little) screen. All this stems from my unashamed love of a myriad of brunette actresses and one of my first ever posts:  “Top 10 Brunette Beauties.” If you missed No. 25-13 you should click here before moving [...]

Movie Muse turned two years old this week! Last year I shared my thoughts on a year of movie blogging, but this year I’m going to have a bit more fun. My first order of business when the site debuted was to put together a few of the ever-popular “Top 10″ lists on things I [...]

What’s with all the dang penguins? We’ve known that for decades that Hollywood has a habit of supplying vocal chords or curiously anthropomorphic abilities to all living creatures in the animal kingdom. From animated features to “Dr. Doolittle,” we’ve consistently fantasized about what would happen if our furry, scaly or feathered friends could talk, sing or interact [...]

Death by explosion is a terrific (albeit PG-13) way to kill off a significant character in any action movie or thriller. A loud boom with pillars of fire and usually the right touch of slow motion in post-production makes a climactic death scene a fitting one and serves as a very visceral catharsis in any [...]