Movie Reviews
Under the Dome
I wasn’t greatly impressed by the book by Stephen King. I’m a big fan, but I didn’t think it was his best. The idea is very simple: One day without any warning, an invisible dome appears over a small town, shutting it off from the outside world. Anything that straddled the line where the dome appeared is cut into two pieces. (To show how movies almost always make things bigger than the ... Read more »
Low Winter Sun
Based on a 2006 British mini-series. Looked interesting.
1. Pilot. And it is interesting, so far. It’s set in grungy old Detroit, which was pretty fucked-up already when I spent a summer working there in 1965. It’s gone downhill since then, went bankrupt a few weeks ago, and it looks just awful. Right off the bat two men kill another one and drop him in ... Read more »
Mud
This is the movie Reese Witherspoon was about to promote when she had her infamous “Do you know who I am?” public meltdown. She’s apologized, and I forgive her … but don’t let it happen again, okay, Reese?
A sensitive movie with 14-year-olds in it stands or dies by the performances of the youngsters, and Ty Sheridan as Ellis and Jacob Lofland as his buddy Neckbone are quite good, ... Read more »
Oblivion
When you hear that Tom Cruise and his partner Andrea Riseborough had their memories wiped five years ago for some bullshit security reason, you can be sure that something is rotten in the state of Oblivion. Someone is lying to them about what had really happened. The story is that aliens arrived about seventy years ago, and we fought them to a standstill, and then won. But winning had a ... Read more »
Gaily, Gaily
Ben Hecht was a journalist, novelist, and playwright, but is probably best known for his screenplays. He is possibly the best screenwriter who ever worked in Hollywood. I won’t list his credits, there are just too many of them, and an amazing percentage of them are bona fide classics, things you must see if you are a movie fan.
This Norman Jewison movie ... Read more »
Robin Hood: Men in Tights
For some reason I thought I had seen this, but upon a recent viewing it seems almost certain that I hadn’t. At least, I didn’t remember any of it. My impression had been that it wasn’t very good (go figure; how could I have an opinion on a movie I never saw?). For what it’s worth, it’s better than I didn’t remember it to be. … or something like that.
Like 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 »
Once Upon a Time (Second Season)
It kept me going right through another 22 episodes The only thing that might be a problem is that you begin to see how incredibly complex the whole thing is, and maybe begin to despair that you’ll ever understand it all. But I have to assume that would be even worse if I hadn’t seen them all in a row over just a few days, instead of a season of half a year. I would dearly love to see the ... Read more »
The Sapphires
Though it’s hard to believe, right up into the early 1970s Australia did not count aboriginal people as human beings in their census. They were classified as “flora and fauna.” Animals. My, my. America has a lot to answer for in our treatment of native populations—still does—but I think we take a back seat to the Aussies.
This is an unabashed feel-good movie about a rather ... Read more »
The Exorcist
Here we have the granddaddy of the modern horror movie. Stories that people were fainting and vomiting during the more disturbing demonic possession scenes in the movie are largely untrue (the director, William Friedkin, claimed that most people fled the theater during the rather clinical scenes of a spinal tap being performed), but it sure as shit shocked the world.
To enjoy it, ... Read more »