Reviews of films
Henri-Georges Clouzot, the director of The Wages of Fear (1953), specialized in suspense thrillers and was even considered a rival of Alfred Hitchcock for a time, securing the rights to the source material for his most celebrated film, Diabolique (1955), just … Continue reading Double Features: The Wages of Fear (1953) and Sorcerer (1977)
How big was The Mermaid? According to Box Office Mojo, the movie was China’s box office champion of 2016. Earning $527 Million, the movie grossed more than the #2 and #3 movies combined: Zootopia and (the surprise hit for China … Continue reading Made Overseas: The Mermaid (2016)
A look at the cheapie direct-to-video Captain America film from 1990! Continue reading The Discount Spinner Rack: CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990)
Life Dir. Daniel Espinosa Premiered at SXSW March 18, 2017 It was March 2017 and my girlfriend at the time was a senior at USC. Although not a film major, she had decided to take Leonard Maltin’s class in which … Continue reading Movie Reviews: Life (2017)
In a world where a villain tries to rule the world by using a head-mounted device that reads people’s thoughts, a masked hero must arise to answer the call of justice. This hero with the alter ego as a rich … Continue reading Made Overseas: Silver Hawk (2004)
I mentioned it yesterday in my review of The Post, but I don’t really do biopics in theaters, with both these films chosen largely because they are likely Oscar contenders. Not the best reason to check out a film I admit, … Continue reading Movie Reviews: I, Tonya (2017)
In terms of the most useless reviews I have or will ever write, writing one for The Post has to rank towards the top. It’s a Steven Spielberg directed historical prestige film starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. If there … Continue reading Movie Reviews: The Post (2017)
Welcome to my weekly discussion of the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio. I’m proceeding mostly chronologically. The title comes from a quote from Walt, “I never called my work an ‘art’ It’s part of show business, the business … Continue reading Building Entertainment: The Animated Films of the Walt Disney Studio. The Rescuers
Never Too Young to Die (1986) If you’ve ever wanted to see John Stamos share a sex scene with Vanity (the Prince protege) in a movie where Gene Simmons plays a hermaphroditic villain, with lots of chases, gunfights and silliness, … Continue reading TCM Underground: Never Too Young to Die (1986) and Gymkata (1985)
I watched Performance (1970) the other night after it had sat in my queue for a few months. I caught it on cable back in the early 80’s when the movie channels still played esoteric stuff like that and it was … Continue reading Double Features: Performance (1970) & Demon Seed (1977)
It might seem odd that an X-Men spinoff got a movie before the X-Men proper, but if you look at the time and the place, it makes a certain amount of sense. It was the ’90s, dude, and you’ve got … Continue reading Before Capes Were Cool #6: Generation X (1996)
Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002) is based on a true story. Once upon a time, there was a rogue general with a bounty on his head. He wanted to fight back, and he did so in one of the most desperate … Continue reading Made Overseas: Hero (2002)
Stephen Chow’s directorial output may have since been eclipsed by other movies —– either by the wild Looney Tunes homage of Kung Fu Hustle or China’s 2016 box office champion The Mermaid —— but for me the closest to my … Continue reading Made Overseas: Shaolin Soccer (2001)
Welcome to my weekly discussion of the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio. I’m proceeding mostly chronologically. The title comes from a quote from Walt, “I never called my work an ‘art’ It’s part of show business, the business … Continue reading Building Entertainment: The Animated Films of the Walt Disney Studio. The Many Adventures of Winnie-The Pooh
Hey, I’m back! I took last week off for the holidays to catch up on some much-needed sleep. He Knows You’re Alone (1980) He Knows You’re Alone is probably best known for having a small, bit role by a then-unknown … Continue reading TCM Underground: He Knows You’re Alone (1980) and Don’t Open the Door! (1974)
Jumanji was not a movie that needed a sequel, and in a way it’s kind of fitting that it didn’t really get one. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is the sort of soft rework that more often occurs half a … Continue reading Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has a blast not caring what you think
Batman Forever has a remarkably layered and thematically rich story. I mean, the screenplay is pretty bad, but the story? What the movie is actually about? Easily the best of the Burton/Schumacher Batman series. Before you hit the Back button … Continue reading Before Capes Were Cool #5: Batman Forever (1995)
In any other year, Darkest Hour would be just another stagey film destined to rack up award nominations and critical plaudits, but in 2017 something is a bit different. I won’t even say it has much to do with the … Continue reading Movie Reviews: Darkest Hour (2017)
“Dying is one of my least favorite things to do” Short films, even when they breakthrough to viral status, never achieve the kind of attention that feature length films do. With the exception of Pixar and the rare other example, … Continue reading Movie Reviews: World of Tomorrow Episode 2: The Burden of Other People’s Thoughts (2017)
As someone who doesn’t (or at the very least didn’t) see many movies each year in theaters, I’m generally selective of what I go see there. They are all well reviewed and either from creators who I am a fan … Continue reading Movie Reviews: Molly’s Game (2017)
2006 was an underrated year in film. It may not be mentioned along the likes of 1939, 1972, 1974, 1994, or 1999, but it deserves to be mentioned in that conversation. Don Hertzfeldt released the first part of a fantastic … Continue reading Movie Reviews: The Shape of Water (2017)
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