District 9 is a great modern science fiction film, with an interesting premise steeped in political and racial turmoil. The documentary style greatly enhances the realism and makes it easy to recommend — provided, of course, you can stomach a fair share of gore (I’d rather they had dialed that back a bit, myself). I [...]
The new 2009 Star Trek film is an absolutely incredible reboot of the franchise; I daresay it was the best film I have seen in the theatre in years.
A fine family adventure film — particularly enjoyed Ronan’s performance. Alas, the plot was just a tad shallower than I would have hoped.
I went into this thinking that it was the kind of story I would love as a child of the 80s (and fan of Silent Running, E.T., Short Circuit, Romie-0 and Julie-8, etc.), but the film turned out to be overrated. It was a solid Pixar story (and better than Cars), but [...]
I remember getting in trouble in my highschool library for laughing so uncontrollably while reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The earlier books in the series are better than the later ones — but if you’re intelligent, enjoy science fiction, and are looking for something light and funny, this is the series for you.
I quite enjoyed this return to the events of the fourth Star Trek film: it’s a sort of sequel which takes the opportunity to flesh out the purpose and meaning of the mysterious probe. It might not be the novel Bonanno wrote (see her web site), but it was a fun diversion nonetheless.
A fun summer popcorn flick made by old men reliving their youth, and Ford’s best work in over a decade. The Biblical artifacts were the best MacGuffins in the previous films, and I think it’s clear why Ford and Spielberg resisted filming this story by Lucas for almost 20 years. The plot [...]
I quite enjoyed this; loved the scenes of the struggle between David and Griffin. I’d welcome sequels which take this premise further and flesh it out.
3 and a half stars (out of 5)
I enjoyed the subtleties of the original short story, but the film is far too heavy-handed. Darabont forgets that mist is scarier when you can’t see what’s concealed within it.
2 stars (out of 5)
I’ve never been a big fan of The Matrix franchise, and I felt the first film was highly overrated (to me, slowing everything down in “bullet time” was a cop-out instead of actually having compelling action sequences). I admit I did enjoy puzzling over the smattering of existential philosophy, however, and that brought it closer [...]
I particularly liked how George Lucas set up the Yoda vs. Darth Sidious and Obi-Wan vs. Anakin battles, and the juxtaposition at the end where shots of Darth Vader being put into the suit are interwoven with shots of Padme giving birth to the twins.
4 and a half stars (out of 5)
This was great, but I’m still waiting for someone to make it set in the same time period as the original book. If you’re going to modernize the story, do it on the cheap with camcorders like The Blair Witch Project.
4 and a half stars (out of 5)