I try to separate people’s private lives from the creative work they put out. Only in rare cases is someone so dislikeable that I actively avoid anything associated with them. For instance, Orson Scott Card is a massive homophobe, and because of this, I will not spend any time reading his books.… Read the rest
With X-Men – Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer makes a welcome return to the mutant universe. He had helmed the first two films but jumped ship on the third one, directing the morose Superman Returns instead. Brett Ratner took the helm for X-Men: Last Stand and almost sank the franchise with a rambling mess of a movie, which badly flubbed the classic Dark Phoenix storyline from the comics. … Read the rest
L’Inconnu du Lac is slow, repetitive and features a protagonist who fails to grasp the basics of self-preservation. I went to see it because it scored fairly high on the IMDB, and apparently my negative viewing experience is the minority one.… Read the rest
Like Superman, Captain America is a tricky character to make interesting. As conceived, they both stand for moral absolutes. In Cap’s case, for ‘truth, justice and the American Way’ though thankfully, that last part isn’t overly emphasized. The second (semi) solo movie handles Cap very well, throwing the ultimate Good Guy into a conspiracy thriller and making him have to doubt the morals of everyone around him.… Read the rest
I don’t have much to say about The Desolation of Smaug as far as plot and acting go. The middle part of the trilogy is basically just more of the same, an overlong but entertaining fantasy ride with some scenery-chewing. Cumberbatch is fun as the dragon Smaug, and the scenes with him are a highlight.… Read the rest
Dredd is a well-executed, lean and mean sci-fi action movie. It is based on a series of grungy underground comics (from 2000 AD) and is far more true to the source material than the Sylvester Stallone flick from 1995 was (titled Judge Dredd).… Read the rest
When Pitch Black came out in 2000, it seemed like an unassuming, stand-alone horror-movie which borrowed heavily from Aliens, while adding enough uniqueness to the formula to make it interesting. It starred Vin Diesel as the not especially talkative Riddick, the enigmatic prisoner of a bounty-hunter.… Read the rest
Europa Report is a movie for people who have seen Gravity and are jonesing for more stressed-out astronaut action. (Though it was actually released a few months before Gravity was.) The approach is a different one, though, as the movie is part of the ‘found footage’ storytelling genre.… Read the rest
The guy with the big hammer is back! He is still mostly the straight man in a story that mixes Shakespearian family drama with mythical mumbo-jumbo. Mind you, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his Asgardian kin are not Gods, because that could cause all sorts of controversy among the believers of various ‘legit’ religions.… Read the rest
You can’t accuse Pacific Rim of not delivering on its core concept. You will indeed be seeing giant mechanoids battle giant monsters and lay waste to buildings as they do so. Most of the fights take place partly obscured by darkness.… Read the rest
