Life Review

First Word: Ridley Scott recently announced that he wants to make six more films in the Alien franchise. Even if you agree the 1979 original is a masterpiece (it is) and are looking forward to Alien: Covenant (I am), six more movies sounds somewhat excessive. Especially since the is-it-or-isn’t-it-an-Alien-movie (it was) Prometheus from 2012 was …

Pete’s Dragon Review

First Word: The original Pete's Dragon was filmed in 1977, and stands as one of Disney’s lowest-ranked family adventure offerings. It was another of those something-for-everyone numbers (part musical, part cartoon, and all-round hammy acting fest) that just didn’t add up for anyone. Disney waited almost 40 years to try their hand at a remake …

Steppenwolf

In Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition, we caught a glimpse of a villain named Steppenwolf. Some may know very little about this DC villain, so here's a character profile to catch you up. Synopsis: Steppenwolf is one of the evil New Gods of Apokolips and the uncle of their ruler Darkseid. His …

Saban’s Power Rangers Review

Introduction: Saban's Power Rangers are yet another example of an unnecessary reboot. If genre fatigue has yet to set in for some superhero-crazed movie goers, director Dean Israelite may well push their exhaustion to critical mass with his bloated, puerile reboot of the Power Rangers . The landmark ’90s series, itself a bizarre cut-and-paste rendering …

The Belko Experiment Review

  First Word: The Belko Experiment, a deeply flawed and unnecessary film written by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, pitches itself as a Battle Royale in an office building. The thing about Battle Royale, for all the notoriety that preceded its release in the U.S., was that it was smart enough to be fake. …

Top 5 Batman Movies

.5. Batman (1989) In 1989, the public perception of Batman changed. Sure, Comic-Con nerds knew he was the dark-hearted flipside to the pretty boy Superman, but most people only knew the '60s camp edition. Tim Burton was an inspired choice to change all that, embracing the dark psychology of the character and redefining the world …

The Killing Joke Review

First Word: Full Disclosure: The Killing Joke is one of my favorite graphic novels. My expectations for the DCU film were high especially after hearing that Mark Hamill (Joker) and Kevin Conroy (Batman) would be returning. After hearing unsettling reviews,  I waited eight months to watch the movie . . . and now I know why. Plot/Synopsis: The first twenty-eight minutes of the …

Kong: Skull Island Review

First Word: Kong: Skull Island is a decent monster movie. At times characters can be incredibly cheesy, but you come to Kong: Skull Island to see Kong and the film delivers. He is massive and fierce and formidable, but those moist eyes of his—yeah, the ones Vogt-Roberts loves reflecting things in so much—reveal his true …

Get Out Review

First Word: My expectations for Get Out were actually quite low. I thought the preview was bizarre and the script would be heavy-handed and predictable, but I was wrong. In Jordan Peele's directorial debut he gives us a well written and well acted film that defied my expectations. Synopsis/Story:  As the title suggests, Get Out is …

Kubo and the Two Strings Review

First Word: Fans are starting to look forward to a new Laika film the same way we used to look forward to a new Pixar. Kubo is the newest 3-D stop-motion animation from the Portland-based studio responsible for Coraline, Paranorman and The Boxtrolls. One scene has a backdrop of what looks like the famed Rashomon …