Stranger in a Not-So Strange Land… For full disclosure, I have to be honest; I am not a diehard anime fan. Yes, I can appreciate the occasional Studio Ghibli production (“Spirited Away,”” “Red Turtle”), and I’ve watched a few episodes of various anime series here and there, but if you asked me to name a…
Month: May 2023
“Starcrash” (1978) is a Star Wars knockoff minus the wit, the charm, or the spaceballs…
*****SPACE SPOILERS AHEAD!****** When “Star Wars” came out 46 years ago, it was a paradigm shift in cinematic entertainment. Visual effects, sound and even editing were never the same, and movies have been forever chasing its tail ever since. This dramatic revolution occurred when I was all of ten years old in the summer of…
Comic Con Revolution 2023: The Inland Empire’s ‘little Comic Con’ is well-established…
Welcome Back Since the Southern California Inland Empire’s first Comic Con Revolution (CCR) in 2017, my wife and I have attended nearly each one, save for 2022, when we attended the COVID-delayed “Star Wars Celebration 2022,” which unfortunately, landed on the same weekend. While my wife and I have attended many big ticket conventions, including…
Don’t ghost “School Spirits” (2023); it’s worth a few séances…
*****SPECTRAL SPOILERS!***** Back in the 1990s, my then future-wife and I were big fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003). I still remember having “Buffy nights” at either my place or hers (as a then-new teacher in those days, she found its school setting very relatable). Now, after 24 years of marriage and both of…
Retro-Musings: 1975’s “Race with the Devil” is a true vacation from hell…
*****SATANIC SPOILERS!***** The late 1960s and early 1970s broke new ground with high-end supernatural/occult-themed films, such as “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) and “The Exorcist” (1973). That wave continued into the mid-1970s, but it devolved into a slew of exploitation flicks made primarily for drive-in theaters, such as 1975’s “The Devil’s Rain” and “Race with the Devil,”…
“Creed III” (2023) scores a solid knockout…
*****RINGSIDE SPOILERS!***** The last time I visited the Rockyverse was for my recent column analyzing 1982’s “Rocky III,” but it’s been a good five years since the last new addition to that franchise, “Creed II” (2018). Yes, I know I primarily write about sci-fi/fantasy/horror entertainment (and conventions) in this column, but I’ve always held a…
A meta-movie remembered; “Last Action Hero” 30 years later…
*****EXPLOSIVE SPOILERS!***** In the 1980s and 1990s, the action movie had evolved (or devolved) into expensive, overwrought, testosterone-soaked chunks of cinematic product. Producers like Joel Silver, Michael Bay, Jerry Bruckheimer, et al, made their fortunes creating over-the-top police fantasies where rogue cops packing semiautomatic heat set right all the world’s wrongs in a couple of…