This film is many things all at once. It is, kind of incredibly, based on a novel, which made my confusion over what happens all the deeper, as the thing that I can’t resolve feels like its the kind of issue that wouldn’t exist in a book. So I’m wondering if something was lost in …
Tag: Action
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II (1989, Charles B. Griffith)
If you thought Wizards of the Lost Kingdom was bad, well do I have a movie for you. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, which has nothing at all to do with the original movie, has a far bigger actor attached to it than the original and somehow manages to be so much worse. This movie …
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (1985, Héctor Olivera, Alan Holleb)
This is a terrible fantasy film with slight more of a budget than you might expect and some credible costuming for a terrible film. It’s basically a fully ’80s fantasy film, with way less of a budget, and where a ton of the cast are dubbed because I guess they were speaking Spanish?
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019, David Leitch)
This spinoff is reputed by many to be the worst of the interminable Fast & Furious movies. I must admit I still haven’t seen all of them – though I have seen most by this point – but I’m not sure why exactly. Most of the problems with this movie are typical of the problems …
Taekoesu-Yonggary [Yongary Monster from the Deep] (1967, Ki-duk Kim)
There are some movies that should only be consumed through Mystery Science Theater 3000. And this South Korean rip off of Gojira appears to be one of them. Now, I should point out that the version I saw was overdubbed so at least one of my biggest problems with the film could be because of …
RED (2010, Robert Schwentke)
This is an amusing action comedy about former spies coming out of retirement with shades of Grosse Pointe Blank and The Whole Nine Yards. It has an incredible cast and they are clearly having a lot of fun. But it also feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019, Jon Watts)
Like Homecoming, this sequel benefits from lower stakes than most MCU movies. And, like the previous Spider-Man, this mostly remains grounded in Parker’s teen life. So it’s among the better MCU films, in that sense. Mild spoilers
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
When I was younger and had recently fallen in love with serialized TV dramas, I had this idea that I was going to write a book about the antecedents of the Golden Age of Television. (At first this was going to be about the Golden Age of Television, but that book already exists.) This book …
The Old Guard (2020, Gina Prince-Bythewood)
This is a decent action movie with an interesting soft science fiction/fantasy premise which falls apart whenever you think too hard about it. I didn’t know the premise before watching so I’ll assume it’s a spoiler and say SPOILERS
The Gentlemen (2019, Guy Ritchie)
Remember when Guy Ritchie was a fresh young director? Some people were (unfairly) calling him an English Tarantino. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels had to be sought out at the video store. Then he married Madonna and made some questionable film choices. Eventually he became one of the numerous indistinguishable blockerbuster filmmakers Hollywood goes …
2020 Toronto International Film Festival
For what may be the third year in a row, I only saw 5 movies at TIFF. Every year I resolve to see more the next year but it never seems to happen. Now, this year is different, obviously. This year I watched TIFF films on my couch. And this year I only watched 5 …
Shadow in the Cloud (2020, Roseanne Liang)
This is a bizarre film with a premise that kind of appealed to me in reading about it but, which, in execution, is a giant mess. SPOILERS
Man of Steel (2013, Zack Snyder)
I feel like I remember reading that this movie had too much origin story and they weren’t kidding. This film tries to both tell the origin story of Superman and of General Zod, and then pit them against each other. And there is just an absolute ton of stuff about Krypton. Honestly, if feels like …
The Dark Tower (2017, Nikolaj Arcel)
I know nothing about the source material but this is one of those films which feels like things went wrong from the very beginning. Apparently a huge part of the problem is that it is a fairly normal length movie adapted from a novel series that is over 4,000 pages long. So no wonder.
Altered Carbon (2018)
I usually review a TV show when I’ve finished it or when I’ve given up. But, given the Pandemic and the state of the film industry, I’m not sure when or if a 3rd season of this show is coming. And by the time it does come, I may have forgotten about the show. So …
Ready Player One (2018, Steven Spielberg)
It’s possible that reading bad reviews of this book and this movie prejudiced me ahead of time. But I’m not sure it would have mattered. This is a bad movie. And it’s somewhat shocking that a director as skilled at making popcorn entertainment as Spielberg couldn’t turn it into a passable film.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018, Christopher McQuarie)
This is now the sixth Mission: Impossible film and the third in the 2010s reboot. Things are tired: there are too many damn characters and the plot echoes the plots of previous movies (i.e. some element in the US government doesn’t trust/disavows Hunt and the IMF, again). I’m bored and I’m not laughing as much …
Hell or High Water (2016, David Mackenzie)
This is a gorgeously shot modern western with an incredible sense of place, good performances and just enough social comment. It is an excellent film which I have one minor reservation about.
Rampage (2018, Brad Peyton)
Aka CRISPRZILLA.
Captain Marvel (2019, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck)
As I have noted with Marvel movies, I only ever read X Men and related comics, so I have no skin in the game of whether or not Captain Marvel should be a man. But a quick Wikipedia search reveals that it’s not so controversial as some made it seem. But make no mistake, this …
Iron Man 3 (2013, Shane Black)
After Iron Man 2 it’s easy to see why people thought this (mini) series was in need of a bit of a new direction. And this film provides it. I’m not sure it fits in very well with the main MCU movies, so I can see why this was the last Iron Man but it …
Green Lantern (2011, Martin Campbell)
Some movies you know are going to be bad from the moment they start, and this is one of them.
Iron Man 2 (2010, Jon Favreau)
Everyone told me this was the bad Iron Man movies and i think they were right. SPOILERS if there can be.
Justice League (2017, Zack Snyder)
Oh hey, it’s Dumb Avengers.
Blade Runner 20149 (2017, Denis Villeneuve)
I’ve seen the original Blade Runner 2 or 3 times over 10 years ago but I’ve yet to be completely sold on it. Before I watched, multiple people (critics, friends) told me it was one of the best movies ever made. I liked it more the second or third viewing, but I’ve never come around …
Avengers: Endgame (2019, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)
Note: Due to the nature of this film – concluding this “phase” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and also its plot, it’s impossible to talk about it without heavy spoilers for the entire set of 20 odd movies, particularly Infinity War, as this is a direct sequel to that movie. You’ve been warned. (Of …
Deepwater Horizon (2016, Peter Berg)
Peter Berg excels at a kind of hyper competence, where his films are technically extremely well made and impressive but which lack subtext or critical thinking. I often hate his films even though I have to grant that they always have exceptional production values. But this one is (a little) different. I think this is …
Game of Thrones (2011)
It’s finally over. It took a very long time to get here. SPOILERS needless to say
Black Panther (2018, Ryan Coogler)
So, before I get to the actual film, I think there is the film’s importance to discuss, and it’s hard to ignore. This is the only blockbuster film to have a majority black cast. It is an absolute landmark and it’s hard to believe it took so long. (It’s a testament to both systemic racism …
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, Steven Spielberg)
This movie has become somewhat legendary since its release, so much so that I went from never wanting to see it to thinking I should probably watch it for a laugh. SPOILERS, I guess.