Movies
Clint Eastwood gave one of the most memorable political convention speeches in the past few decades (at least), and the Left Is Not Amused, pushing their “angry, senile old man” memes for all they’re worth. Well, Eastwood also has a new movie coming out on September 21, “Trouble With the Curve”, and the Left wants [...]
Continue reading about Sept 21: Clint Eastwood Appreciation Day
Great movies that hit their target are hard to review, and Joss Whedon pretty much smacked this puppy out of the park. He made a 2:23 ensemble superhero movie that never lags and that doesn’t shortchange any of the characters. The real telling sign: my sweet wife, who is more tolerant of than eager about [...]
Continue reading about “The Avengers” (2012): a brief review, w/spoilers
My sweet wife and I went to see “The Hunger Games” today. I’ve read all three novels and enjoyed them — they are a cut above the usual Young Adult novels and are a bit dark and unrelenting. The release buzz for the film itself was very positive, so I was interested to see just [...]
Continue reading about “The Hunger Games”: a brief review w/spoilers
UPDATE [3/12/12]: They should have let Brad Bird direct instead of Andrew Stanton. Bird did “The Incredibles” (and has since done MI-4); Stanton did “Finding Nemo” and “WALL-E”. Which director do you think would have done a better job with a swashbuckling retro-SF story? UPDATE[3/16/12]: I went to see “John Carter” again yesterday, and pretty [...]
Continue reading about How “John Carter” “A Princess of Mars” should have gone
I first read “A Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs early in high school, over 40 years ago. I loved the novel and enjoyed the ten (yes, ten) that followed, though none were quite as good or as wildly romantic. So I’ve followed with interest over the past several years the various attempts to [...]
Continue reading about “John Carter”: a brief review, with spoilers
[Originally posted over at Ace of Spades] Those who “abjure” violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf. — George Orwell, Notes on Nationalism This film has gotten a fair amount of ‘net publicity — though probably not nearly enough regular marketing — because of its fundamental concept: film a [...]
Continue reading about “Act of Valor”: a brief review, w/spoilers
My sweet wife and I went to see the new remake of “The Woman in Black”, starring Daniel Radcliffe. We had watched the original (made-for-British-TV) 1989 version when it first came out on video and at least one time since, but it had been many, many years since then. We thought the original was very [...]
In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I’ve been a Nicolas Cage fan ever since “Raising Arizona”. It doesn’t mean that I like (or have even seen) all the films he’s done, but I do like some of his films (“Next”, “Knowing”) more than the general consensus. On the other hand, his [...]
Continue reading about “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” — a brief review, with spoilers
My sweet wife Sandra is not a particular fan of SF films (though she’ll certainly watch or go see them with me), nor of war movies. Yet after we saw this movie today, she talked about how engrossed she was during the entire film. (I’ll note that she went with me to see “Skyline” last [...]
Continue reading about “Battle Los Angeles”: a brief review (w/spoilers)
My eye was caught over at the Apple Movie Trailers site by an upcoming film named “2012: Time for Change“. I read the movie synopsis and was practically overcome with giggling. “2012: Time for Change” presents an optimistic alternative to apocalyptical doom and gloom. Directed by Emmy Award nominee Joao Amorim, the film follows journalist Daniel Pinchbeck, [...]