SUPERMAN starts out wobbly, tasked as its first act is with as much exposition as might be found in a film exploring Superman’s origin story. Yet, like the Man of Steel himself, James Gunn wrenches his film from its tailspin and then zips it into a fine superhero tale full of action, thrills, nifty CGI,… Read More »
THE CROW
The word that best describes THE CROW is moribund. Even during the ecstatic orgy of bloodletting that caps this reboot of Alex Proyas’ 1994 film, it is somnambulant as it goes through its paces charting the lengths to which true love can push a young man when faced with the devil. Or his charming associate… Read More »
SPIRAL: FROM THE BOOK OF SAW
Chris Rock is a man of enormous talent, enough money to do whatever he wants professionally, and the clout to do so. This is why we have the puckishly trenchant documentary about race and beauty standards, GOOD HAIR, and the long-running television series, Everybody Hates Chris. Alas, it’s also why, as star and one of… Read More »
THE GRUDGE
As a culture, we are not unfamiliar with the concept of the cinematic reboot. Consider how many iterations of Batmans, Spider-men, and the Star Trek universe have arrived at our neighborhood theaters in the last decade. Not to mention the less than stellar attempt to revive the Fantastic Four, though, to be fair, the original… Read More »
MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL
When a once profitable film franchise begins to fade, the studios that have reaped the benefits of same are left with little choice about how to handle it. With so much money at stake, both in ticket sales and ancillary merchandise on the line, they can’t just let it slip away with dignity. No, they… Read More »
HELLBOY
There are many ways for a film to go wrong, and while HELLBOY may not have explored all of them, it has certainly come very close. Dialogue that is not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, editing that teeters between pedestrian and laughable, and a story that is merely an excuse for carnage… Read More »
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
Leaving aside what might otherwise be a richly nuanced discussion of why we need another Spider-man reboot so soon, it is with delight and relief that I report its success. Tom Holland takes on the red spandex and the ironic wisecracks as Peter Parker, the brilliant high-school kid whose bite from a radioactive spider has… Read More »
GHOSTBUSTERS
There are many, many things to love about the GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, and one of them is that it is equally good whether you are a fan of the 1984 version, or if you’ve never heard of it. Director and co-writer (with Katie Dippold) Paul Feig, the man who brought us THE HEAT (co-written with him… Read More »
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
George Miller first sent Mad Max blazing across the sere post-apocalyptic landscape in 1979 and thence onto cinematic legend. Sequels followed. Mel Gibson in the eponymous role rose to international fame and, eventually, Miller moved on to different sorts of classics with BABE and HAPPY FEET. Now, thirty years and more later, he is revisiting… Read More »