Pitch Black: The Proto Syfy Channel Original Movie

This movie was selected by our Patreon Supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard!

Shirleon joins Melvin to discuss Pitch Black, one of Vin Diesel’s early action outings! It may not seem like much, but there’s a lot of interesting things to explore within this 2000’s sci-fi flick, and the two explore what’s cool and what’s not-so-cool. But don’t worry, they both agree: the eyes are friggin’ cool!

Topics:

• (PATREON EXCLUSIVE) 37-minutes discussing Anthony D’Alessandro’s article “As ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Stomps On Superhero Fatigue, Studios Debate Comic-Con’s Relevance“, where-in D’Alessandro notes some geeky films that are skipping Comic-Con like Joker: Folie à Deux, Venom: The Last Dance, and Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, and why some studios may start treating SDCC differently. (PATREON EXCLUSIVE)
• Shirleon has been on a self-described “Vin Diesel kick” lately, which made covering Pitch Black more enjoyable.
• After watching Pitch Black, Melvin thought to himself, “Syfy Channel basically just copied this movie a thousand times over.”
• The film is cool but not always clever.
• Shirleon observed that certain online discourse compares Pitch Black to John Carpenter’s The Thing. Melvin doesn’t really see it.
• The film feels like a lot of other movies. Melvin lists the one’s he thought about.
• Contrary to its title, it never feels like our characters are in a state of… pitch black.
• Old cohost Daniel sent Melvin a list of 7 interesting details about Vin Diesel/Riddick. Melvin shares them, and Shirl and Melvin respond to them.
• The film contains a pre-9/11 depiction of Islam that is very kind, and it contains an interesting throughline about faith.
• Do we like the ending?

Recommendations:

• Gab Smolders (YouTube Channel)
• Call of Duty Campaigns: World at War // Black Ops // Black Ops 2

Pitch Black is Rated R for sci-fi violence and gore, and for language. It features Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Vin Diesel, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black, Rhiana Griffith, John Moore, Simon Burke, Les Chantery, Sam Sari, and Firass Dirani. Directed by David Twohy. Pitch Black is available here.

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Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

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