*****TURBO SPOILERS AHEAD!***** I remember going to see the action movie “Blue Thunder” sometime in the summer of 1983, just before I began my junior year of high school. This was one of those ‘word of mouth’ flicks that a few of my classmates were buzzing about just before summer break, and upon seeing it,…
“Enemy Mine” (1985) is an unearthed gem of a sci-fi flick…
*****SPACESHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!***** Something of a box-office dud in its original release, “Enemy Mine” was a movie I didn’t catch theatrically in my younger days. I remember being intrigued by the TV trailers for this US-UK-German coproduction, but it was in and out of theaters before I could catch it. I would later see it, via…
Still feeling “Gravity” (2013), ten years later…
*****SPACE SHUTTLE-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!***** In 620 or so columns, I was surprised to realize that I’d not yet written about director/cowriter Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity”, a movie that hits its decade mark this year. I remember going to see “Gravity” twice in theaters, because it was such a cinematic experience. Almost like a 1990s IMAX movie…
HBO’s “The Last of Us” treads upon very familiar terrain…
*****SPOILER INFECTION RISK!***** If you’ve never seen any of the zombie apocalypse scenarios that have arisen since 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead,” or TV’s more recent “The Walking Dead” (based on Robert Kirkman’s graphic novels), then HBO’s new (and well-crafted) “The Last of Us” will be one helluva surprise. However, if you’ve seen as…
A family’s story lies at the heart of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022)…
*****MULTIVERSAL SPOILERS!!***** It took me a while to finally see “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), an epic sci-fi/drama/comedy/adventure movie written and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and coproduced by the Russo Brothers (Anthony & Joseph), the duo behind “Captain America: Civil War” (one of my favorite Marvel movies). From trailers, all I…
“Star Trek: Prodigy” is the franchise’s most unexpected surprise…
*****STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!!***** Created by Kevin and Alex Hageman and overseen by an Alex Kurtzman-led team of producers, the Paramount+/Nickelodeon coproduction Star Trek: Prodigy (PRO) is a new animated Star Trek series consciously geared towards younger audiences, after the debut of the more adult (and arguably less mature) Star Trek: Lower Decks. Having recently finished 20…
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is an electrifying improvement…
*****INCIDENTAL SPOILERS***** Once again, I apologize for another deviation from sci-fi/fantasy/horror in this column, but “Glass Onion: a Knives Out Mystery” (2022) is simply too good to ignore. This new Benoit Blanc mystery does contain a sci-fi element at its core, by skewering a thinly-veiled Elon Musk-like billionaire (Edward Norton) and his ‘discovery’ of a…
The ambiguity of “Rocky III” (1982)…
*****UPPERCUT SPOILERS AHEAD!!***** 40 Years Ago In the summer of 1982, I saw my first theatrical “Rocky” movie, “Rocky III.” I’d already seen the first two on TV and home video, but seeing them on a big screen with an audience was a lot more engaging. It was also one of the few movie franchises…
Netflix’s “Wednesday” (2022) paints it black…
*****SPOOKY SPOILERS!!***** “They’re creepy and they’re kooky…” In 1964, monsters and horror were increasingly mainstream on broadcast TV, as evidenced by the popularity of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits.” CBS’s “The Munsters” and ABC’s “The Addams Family” attempted to cash in on this trend by upending traditional family sitcoms such as…
Going to (almost) see “Avatar: The Way of Water” today…
Decision. For the first time in 22 months, I said to myself, “I am going to the movies today.” During the COVID pandemic, I admit that I’ve become a bit of a germaphobe. After buying a digital projector in 2020, I’ve also settled into the habit of streaming/watching movies primarily at home. With a 7…
Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” (2022) is a timeless tale told through a glass, darkly…
******TERRIBLE DOGFISH-SIZED SPOILERS!!****** “When you wish upon a star…” While I don’t remember ever actually reading Carlo Collodi’s 19th century children’s classic, “Pinocchio,” I do remember seeing the 1940 Disney movie on TV as a kid (and later on laserdisc), and it more or less holds up today. The classic Jiminy Cricket sung-ditty “When You…
Star Trek: The Original Series; examining “Metamorphosis,” 55 years later…
*****55-YEAR OLD STARSHIP-SIZED SPOILERS!***** The Star Trek Original Series (TOS) episode “Metamorphosis” was first broadcast via the NBC network on November 10th, 1967. This was a heady time for the sophomore series, with creator Gene Roddenberry producing, along with some terrific writing talent attached to the show, including script editor Dorothy Fontana (1939-2019), and prolific…