We had a great time in 2015 writing reviews and essays of books, movies and TV shows. It excites and encourages us when we see that our work is being read and passed around. For a variety of reasons, some of our articles have turned out to be significantly more popular than others. Below we’ll recap for you which Daly Planet Films content became wildly popular.
10. Defining Stupid: TED 2, JURASSIC WORLD, and Filmmaker’s Intent
Scott got tired of everyone asking him why he didn’t like Jurassic World, so naturally he wrote an essay comparing the film to the comedy Ted 2. It made a lot of sense at the time. Scott makes a pretty great case for why Jurassic World is a dumb movie, while Ted 2 is just stupid.
Since Matt watches lots of Disney movies, he’s very tuned in to the ebb and flow of Disney’s storytelling conventions over time. In this article Matt explains how Disney doesn’t know how to create good villains anymore, and he tries to determine why that happened.
Matt’s social criticism masquerading as a review of Boyhood made the Internet angry. Well, we love a lively discussion around here. At least Matt’s frustration with this film has been sublimated into a more complex anger, aimed in lots of different directions, among a larger group of people.
7. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Movie Review: Holy Shit…
It’s fitting that one of our most popular film reviews was about the best film of the year. People seemed to really enjoy Scott’s energetic love for this wonderful action movie. If for some weird reason you haven’t seen Mad Max: Fury Road yet, you should really get on that. Oh, and also, read this review.
6. Matt’s Sci-Fi Picks – BLINDSIGHT Book Review
Matt proves that science fiction fans are some of the most passionate out there with the popularity of his review of Peter Watts’ novel Blindsight. The success of posts like this was great for The Daly Planet, as it helped us better gauge where to target our reviews in the future. It also got Scott to read a book he otherwise wouldn’t have. Hopefully it did the same for you.
Scott discusses how Jurassic World fails to live up to the movie it’s trying desperately to copy, the classic Jurassic Park. In retrospect, this review pointed out the trend of “soft reboots” of beloved franchises trying to ape the original movies beat for beat and ultimately falling well short.
4. Three Things: GAME OF THRONES Season Five
Scott, Matt and James lay out our thoughts, feelings and nitpicks regarding the fifth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones. It’s a popular show, and sharing opinions on popular TV shows is an American pastime second only to baseball, so it’s no surprise that lots of people enjoyed this article.
3. Matt’s Sci-Fi Picks – WORM Web Serial Review
When Matt wrote his review of Worm, his aim was to draw attention to a web serial that he loves. This article has consistently driven traffic to both Worm and Twig, so he feels satisfied that he accomplished his goal.
2. Neal Stephenson’s SEVENEVES: Political Theory from the Future
Matt’s essay on the works of Neal Stephenson, passed under the guise of a review of Seveneves, proved to be surprisingly controversial. Authoritarians and Communists alike found something in this piece to argue about. The article has the dubious distinction of having gone viral in the Neoreactionary, Gamergate and Sad Puppies communities, largely because these groups found it to be insufficiently anti-feminist.
Scott’s recap series on The Bachelorette TV show has been the most popular feature of Daly Planet Films. This is highly unfortunate. Imagine if people really enjoyed watching you hit yourself in the teeth with rocks – enjoyed this more than everything else you did. What I’m trying to say is, you should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Honorable Mentions: The Star Wars Holiday Special, Magic Mike, Orange is the New Black, the True Detective recap series, and our podcast episodes about Christopher Nolan and about Fight Club.
We hope this list helps you enjoy some of our (for whatever reason) most popular works. 2015 was a great year for us, and we’re excited to create more essays, reviews and recaps for you to enjoy in 2016!
