Bloodshot has the dubious honor of being the last movie I saw in theaters before the Coronavirus shutdown. I knew that theaters in my area were due to close the next day, and I was so desperate for one last classic moviegoing experience that even the blandest piece of trash would do. Continue reading
After a rocky production that saw the special effects team rebuild the title character from scratch, no doubt increasing the budget in the process, it’s a minor miracle that Sonic is not only a success, but a good movie. Not a great one, by any stretch, but I’ll take what I can get. Continue reading
The first thing one notices about Birds of Prey is its title: a nineteen-syllable mouthful that’s messy, unwieldy, and has way too much going on. Regrettably, it’s also a sign of things to come. Continue reading
The best thing about the release of Captain Marvel is that it brings us one step closer to the end of the nonsensical internet drama surrounding it. I won’t be going into that here, chiefly out of self-preservation, but a quick Google search should inform the more masochistic among you. I’ll offer just one thought on the matter: things as trivial as superhero movies have no business being cultural battlegrounds. Consequently, this review will only cover my thoughts on the movie itself – not its “impact,” nor “what it means,” nor “why it matters.” Continue reading
There’s a shot early on in Aquaman that sums up the movie better than any review could. Preparing for battle, an underwater cavalry unit enters formation, each soldier mounted astride a bus-sized great white shark. One of the massive beasts, restrained by its rider, thrashes its head and roars. It’s a moment that perfectly encapsulates the movie’s attitude: you’re either on board for all of this lunacy or none of it. For me, the decision was easy. Continue reading
Overlord, with its high-concept hook of Nazi zombies, itself practically a subgenre at this point, is the kind of movie that could have gone either way. It’s easy to see how it could have been all concept and no execution, the kind of movie with little to offer besides a catchy gimmick at its center. Thankfully it turns out to be anything but, taking its gonzo premise and running with it to create a perfectly satisfying slice of B-Movie cheese. Continue reading
Unlike its counterpart and occasional crossover property the Alien series, each of the Predator movies has been essentially standalone, their only common thread the titular extraterrestrial. While the Alien series’ best entries undoubtedly surpass those of the Predator franchise, it’s also stagnated thanks to uninspired diminishing returns after Aliens. Meanwhile, Predator’s sequels have proven to be a more eclectic and interesting bunch, never content to self-plagiarize their celebrated predecessor. After the jungle-bound antics of the first movie, Predator 2 moved the action to the city and expounded on the aliens’ lore, while Predators had a similar structure to the first film but flipped the script by dropping its band of warriors on predator turf. Continue reading
Those of you who read my Worst of 2015 know that I was no fan of Jurassic World. Among its greatest faults was its insistence on bludgeoning its audience with slavish callbacks and references to the series’ first installment. Jurassic World’s follow-up manages to escape the shadow of its revered progenitor, but creates new headaches in the process. Continue reading
In this episode, my cousin Zack (of his own podcast, Pulpdiction) drops by to talk about the 2016 magic-based action film Now You See Me 2. We’ll discuss Woody Harrelson’s daring dual role as twin brothers, the excessive Britishness of the villains, and more.
It seems that every Marvel movie somehow manages to generate even more hype than the last, and Avengers: Infinity War is no exception. It’s the movie that the last dozen-or-so films of its universe have been leading up to, focusing on the titular band of superheroes doing battle with Thanos (Josh Brolin), the much-ballyhooed big-bad of the Marvel universe. Infinity War brings with it the creative challenges posed by its two predecessors: juggling a massive cast of characters, maintaining a brisk pace for a hefty running time, and keeping the stakes high in a franchise that has rather cheapened the threat of global destruction. Continue reading