Category: Movies & TV

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Blog / Horror / Misc. Reviews / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV / SciFi

Scamper from THE LONG WALK

WAKING WALKING || SPOILERS AHEAD || HAVE WE SEEN THIS BEFORE? || SIMILAR DIFFERENCES || CELLULOID BLUNDERING || INELEGANT ENDING Mistakes Were Made Along the Way . . . My review of THE LONG WALK 4/10 WAKING WALKING I could see why it took decades to make a feature film of one of Stephen King’s earliest stories. Although from what I’ve seen, his novel The Long Walk was drafted at roughly the same time as his first published novel, Carrie, it was among the works he later released under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It was collected with other stories in a...

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3 New Movie Reviews

BLOOD RED SKY || MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING || KNEECAP Vampires, Rappers and Daredevils, Oh-My! It’s been a while since I’ve been able to lay down an original post on this blog, what with responsibilities galore, stresses of everyday life and health concerns with myself and family, involvement in political causes, etc. I have ideas I do not have time to put to paper, but I have, while commencing my laboriously long drives for my beloved job (I mean it, I love my job) I have used voice dictation to lay down several movie reviews which I have posted below,...

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Biography / Blog / Diary Entry / Movies & TV

Finally Finished – My Music Video

Well, it’s almost entirely finished. George Lucas stated “…films are never completed, they’re only abandoned.”1 Well, I can understand. The video is not yet 100% to my liking, as there are certainly still a few problems. The lip-sync is faulty in a few places, one of the transitions is not yet to my liking, and one microphone shot — with the speakers in the background — is a bit too long. I also hope to have another session to shoot with the model, the wonderful Iveth Gomez from DFW. Since I now have a camera which can shoot in Cinema Mode,...

Skywalker When? 0

'Star Wars' / Blog / Movies & TV / SciFi

Skywalker When?

Life at Amazon has been — hopefully understandably — crazy.  Check back after whenever for my review of The Rise of Skywalker. I’ve seen it twice so far, and might have something to say about it.  [ feigning Shock and awe ] 2001.14: Since I never did a review of The Last Jedi, my review of Rise will include a review of Last.  That is the only way, I figure, to explain why I am such a defender of Last, especially as compared to Rise.  Should be finished before May 1st.

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Blog / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV / Science / SciFi

The Bad Physics of Ad Astra

a review of Ad Astra MULTIPLE SPOILERS AHEAD, IF YOU CARE TO SEE A TRUE STINKER When Brad Pitt’s newest sci-fi flick was forthcoming, it looked chock full of promise: an intriguing plot, Tommy Lee Jones as the long lost father, beautiful photography and special effects, and the trailers didn’t give away too much of the story, just enough to keep it interesting. In it’s attempt to be a legacy film, Ad Astra takes/steals/borrows straight plot points and even imitates shots from legendary entries in the sci-fi cinema corpus, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar, Gravity and others.  That’s not...

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Blog / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV / Science / SciFi

China Takes to the Skies

a review of The Wandering Earth NO SPOILERS AHEAD Recently, Netflix released the Chinese blockbuster sci-fi epic The Wandering Earth (May 6, ’19). Having made over $700 million worldwide, the film made good bank on what has been called “China’s first full-scale interstellar spectacular”.1 As you would expect, it is a mixed bag, with moderate highs and usually unintentional lows. Science-wise the file is problematic, but epic in scale, heroic in scope. One of the main problems is when the Earth — which is Wandering (duh) — is approaching Jupiter.  There is a sudden, unexpected burst of gravity from Jupiter, called...

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US and Peele

a review of Us NO SPOILERS Us (2019) is the 2nd major film from 5 season “Mad TV” comedic actor Jordan Peele.   After the maddening demise of that beloved variety show, he collaborated with (Detroit’s own) Keegan-Michael Key on the Comedy Central sketch series “Key & Peele” (2012-15).  His breakout “black horror film” Get Out (2017) is only the 2nd horror film to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Wow. He could rest on his laurels, but that just wouldn’t be the route of a talented and maybe even brilliant filmmaker in the tradition of his heroes, including Rod Serling, Alfred...

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Blog / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV / SciFi

Not So Marvelous

a review of Captain Marvel SPOILERS MAY ME LURKING IN THE NOOKS AND CRANNIES OF THIS REVIEW Think of a comedian. The material is fair, but brought down a few notches by the delivery. Several of the comedian’s jokes are colorless, lifeless, even shockingly lame.  Let’s not even discuss having more gaps in logic and continuity than the Old Testament. Welcome to Captain Marvel, the latest contribution to the MCU, the Marvel Comic Universe. While still not nearly as bad as the first Iron Man, CM – first of all – has one of the great hallmarks of origin stories, asking...

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Blog / Movie Reviews and Essays / Movies & TV

A Near-Perfect Movie, Fucked by One Dialogue

a short review of A Star is Born 2018 I WILL WARN YOU BEFORE THE SPOILERS Cooper is Gold Bradley Cooper has done considerable good with his career since his breakthrough appearance in the excellent comedy The Hangover (2009), where he sailed by on more than his good looks.  With Silver Linings Playbook (2012) he displayed his (semi-)serious acting chops.  In this film he goes dozens of steps forward: almost every major craft position has either his sole or shared name.  He is the director, star, soundtrack producer and co-writer for this film.  With this film, my respect for his talent...