So maybe you have a film franchise that is running out of steam. Maybe one of the stars wants out. Maybe his character was killed off to accommodate that. Maybe an actress has an idea for reviving that franchise with some panache and a dash of ovarian power. You can’t help thinking that one of… Read More »
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
For sheer value-for-money, you can’t top AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. It’s pure entertainment with an endless parade of the kind of whiz-bang special effects, not quite sloppy sentiment, and a constant barrage of the quips and banter that define grace under pressure in the Marvel Universe. Plus, pretty much everyone from the MCU finds his or… Read More »
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
Good and evil are inextricably entwined in STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. It makes for a pleasing metaphysical subtext to a film with spectacular action sequences, pointed references to the political economics of the class struggle, and a character in Benicio Del Toro whose nihilism carries with it a whiff of Zen philosophy at its… Read More »
JUSTICE LEAGUE
JUSTICE LEAGUE is a film with many problems. Some are inherent in an origin-style story that introduces several characters to what the filmmakers hope will be an audience eager to follow their further, individual, adventures. Some are just inexplicable. Take the plot device that is nothing short of asinine, and which I can’t discuss without… Read More »
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
There is something heartening in a sequel to a sequel that is as good as the original. Imagine how much more heartening it is that WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, the third in the trilogy that launched with the excellent DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES and continued with the equally excellent… Read More »
ALIEN: COVENANT
ALIEN COVENANT is a mixed bag. As a horror movie, it is unimpeachable, adding an extra self-refractive layer of pleasure to an audience that knows exactly what is lurking there in the giant deserted spaceship that our intrepid space colonists discover. As a vehicle for advancing the meta-story of the Alien franchise, it is far… Read More »
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. II
When GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY blazed into theaters a few years back, it set a high standard for effects-laden sci-fi played for laughs. Volume II has now blazed into theaters, but that standard has not quite been met. This sequel drifts a bit into maudlin sentimentality that has no place in this particular universe, even… Read More »
LOGAN
The standalone X-Men story, LOGAN, dares much with its darkness, and achieves even more by being an emotionally brutal story that relies on character, not spectacle, to pack its considerable wallop. A tale that is as psychically violent as it is physically so, it is a sharp descant to the earlier films in the franchise… Read More »
BLAIR WITCH
Once again college kids with video cameras march into the dark piney woods in search of something better left undisturbed. Unlike previous attempts to capture the lightning in a bottle that was the original BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, attempts that went down in flames, writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard have taken the found-footage format… Read More »
STAR TREK: BEYOND
The Star Trek franchise has never been about wondering how the intrepid crew of the Starship Enterprise would save the day against impossible odds. Rather, the suspense has always come from the struggle between hope and despair as they have battled aliens, space viruses, and their own inner conflicts to snatch victory from certain doom.… Read More »
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