In an earlier column from six years ago, I sang the praises of physical media ownership (“Still crazy after all these years; why I continue to collect physical media”). And I still do. I’ve been watching a few recent YouTube videos which make the case for collecting VHS tapes, DVDs, Blu-Rays and 4K discs, even in…
Month: January 2024
“The Creator” (2023) paints a sympathetic portrait of artificial intelligence…
******SYNTHETIC SPOILERS!****** Directed and cowritten by Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One,” “Godzilla”) with occasional collaborator Chris Weitz, “The Creator” was a movie I was curious to see late last year during its theatrical run. Unfortunately, events conspired to prevent that from happening, and it was gone from theaters before I had the chance. The trailer looked…
S#!t happens in Netflix’s “Leave the World Behind”…
******SUSPICIOUS SPOILERS!****** I have to admit, I took the bait on this one. Last month, I saw an interesting online trailer for Netflix’s “Leave the World Behind” (2023), based on a book by Rumaan Alam, who cowrote the screenplay with director Sam Esmail. Starring Oscar winners Julia Roberts (“Erin Brockovich”) and Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”), along…
A few thoughts on “Oppenheimer” (2023)…
After nearly six months, I finally got around to seeing 2023’s “Oppenheimer” this past week. It’s not that I was avoiding it, it’s just that I haven’t fully regained my moviegoing mojo following the COVID pandemic (I have only seen a handful of movies theatrically this past year, including “Barbie”). Getting my old, arthritic butt…
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” make the jump from hyperspace onto the big screen…
From AP News: A new ‘Star Wars’ movie is coming to theaters: ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu.’ There hasn’t been a Star Wars film in theaters since 2019’s “Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker,” which received mixed reviews at best (personally, I thought it wasn’t too bad, despite some issues), which means this announcement…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Past Tense” Parts 1 & 2 foretells a future-present…
******STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!****** The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine two-parter “Past Tense” debuted 29 years ago this month (January 5th and January 12th, 1995), and it was set in the then-near future of 2024, which is now. The episode itself forecast a dark, vaguely fascistic era where homeless people are rounded up en masse and placed…
Retro-Musings: Peter Fonda takes on killer androids in 1976’s “Futureworld”…
*****CYBERNETIC SPOILERS!***** Written and directed by the late Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park”), 1973’s “Westworld” told the story of a high-end amusement park staffed with android playthings who provide wealthy guests with an immersive experience in several recreated worlds of the past; “Medieval world,” “Roman world,” and the titular “Westworld.” It’s in Westworld where a recently…