The World, the Flesh, and the Devil

Some sort of weird isotope (of sodium, we’re told) is released in the upper atmosphere by a nation unknown. It kills everyone it contacts, and then in five days it is spent. Harry Belafonte (for some reason I had remembered that Sidney Poitier was in the movie; I guess it was easy to confuse them, as just about the only black stars of this era) was caught in a mine collapse and it took him ... Read more »

World Trade Center

When I first heard about it, I had to wonder if Oliver Stone was going to ride off into looneyland with some sort of conspiracy theory. Luckily he left that to the looneytunes director of Loose Change and other Internet bug brains.

This movie is very good, and very, very, very, very, very, very hard to watch. I don’t suppose I shall ever be able to ... Read more »

World War Z

I’d call this a missed opportunity. The premise is preposterous, but many SF premises are. Here it is: From somewhere (we never find out where, but North Korea is suspected at first) a virus emerges that turns people into … well, they’re calling them zombies, but I saw no evidence that they were dead. They were just strong, and quick, and single-minded. They aren’t even looking to eat ... Read more »

World War Z

I’d call this a missed opportunity. The premise is preposterous, but many SF premises are. Here it is: From somewhere (we never find out where, but North Korea is suspected at first) a virus emerges that turns people into … well, they’re calling them zombies, but I saw no evidence that they were dead. They were just strong, and quick, and single-minded. They aren’t even looking to eat ... Read more »

World Without End

Just as in today’s cinema people of the future tend to live in horrible poverty, overcrowded, hungry, living in ruins or the overbuilt cities so beloved by set designers, in the ‘40s and ‘50s visions of a future world were usually of sanitized uniformity. This one is a great example. A quartet of astronauts are hurtled into the future and when they land, they find that humanity is divided ... Read more »

World Without End

Just as in today’s cinema people of the future tend to live in horrible poverty, overcrowded, hungry, living in ruins or the overbuilt cities so beloved by set designers, in the ‘40s and ‘50s visions of a future world were usually of sanitized uniformity. This one is a great example. A quartet of astronauts are hurtled into the future and when they land, they find that humanity is divided ... Read more »

The World’s Fastest Indian

Not a Comanche, nor a Sioux, nor a Navajo, nor a person from Bombay, but an Indian motorsickle. This movie is just a terrific little hoot, based on the true story of Burt Munro, a crazy old Kiwi who went from New Zealand to the Bonneville Salt Flats with his 1920 Indian in the 1960s, intending to break the land speed record for his class. He makes his own pistons, he’s never heard of ... Read more »

World’s Greatest Dad

I’m glad a read a little about this, as I had been assuming it was just another of those awful knockabout comedies Robin Williams has been wasting himself on for so long. I suppose I should issue a

SPOILER WARNING,

though I’m pretty sure this cat is out of the bag. Robin is a teacher at a high school, raising his son alone. Now, it’s well known that ... Read more »

Wreck-It Ralph

… is the 52nd animated feature from Walt Disney studios. It was nominated for the Oscar but lost to Brave. The movie is an absolute visual delight. The story is a little weak, possibly because it sought to appeal to young children (an animated film, for kids? What’s that all about?), but there were plenty of other things to keep me ... Read more »

The Wrestler

{{In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
Til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains.}}

When I first heard those lyrics, on vinyl fresh out of the sleeve in 1968, I was moved to tears. And I wasn’t sure why. The ... Read more »