For many filmgoers, the prospect of a new Alex Garland movie is a tantalizing event. That the British novelist/writer/director (‘The Beach’, ‘28 Days Later’, ‘Ex Machina’) decided to make a movie about a contemporary American ‘Civil War’, is both intriguing and confounding at the same time. There’s always been a foreboding sense of controlled nihilism… Continue reading ‘Civil War’ – Purposely Provactive Premise, Purposely Not Provactive Movie?

With his new film, ‘Dune: Part Two’, writer/director Denis Villeneuve has fully realized his dream of bringing Frank Herbert’s heretofore unadaptable foundational sci-fi novel to the biggest screen. Based on the incredible work on display throughout his first foray into the world of Arrakis, 2021’s ‘Dune: Part One’, the success of this next part was… Continue reading ‘Dune: Part Two’ – The Subversion of the “Hero’s Journey” Fully Realized?

There’s been a lot of press lately centering on the decline of Marvel Studios. It seems to have culminated with the financial failure of its latest film entry, ‘The Marvels’, a sequel to 2019’s, ‘Captain Marvel.’ Due to the strikes and a concerted effort to reevaluate the product, there won’t be another MCU movie until… Continue reading ‘The Marvels’ – Edited Within an Inch of its Life . . .

‘The Exorcist’, considered by many to be one of the greatest horror masterpieces of all time, is fifty years old this year. In honor of this monumental anniversary of what is pretty much the invention of modern horror, writer/director David Gordon Green, along with a writing troupe that includes actor and cohort Danny McBride, set… Continue reading ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ – Old Idea, Not Enough of a New Spin?

How does Writer/Director Christopher Nolan keep doing it? He has somehow become the purveyor of smart, challenging blockbuster entertainment that pushes the experience of watching a film, in that it provokes and delights audiences in ways they never thought possible. Leave it to him to put his unique, time-twisting spin on the biopic with ‘Oppenheimer’,… Continue reading ‘Oppenheimer’ – A Propulsive, Explosive Masterpiece?

After an inescapable anticipation due to marketing genius and a long wait on baited breath of what promising filmmaker Greta Gerwig would do with the source material, ‘Barbie’ is finally here. And it’s truly wonderful. As crass as it sounds, Mattel Productions (yes, the toy company behind the iconic doll), has backed a vision (yes,… Continue reading ‘Barbie’ – Who Run The World?

‘Mission: Impossible’ as a franchise just might be the most successful in achieving its, pun intended, mission. While other action blockbuster intellectual properties have ambitions that go way beyond just the movies themselves, Tom Cruise’s ‘M:I’ series is content to entertain, one movie, one set piece, one moment at a time. Nearing 30 years since… Continue reading ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ – Choose To Accept?

Perhaps the biggest question going into the fifth Indiana Jones film, now almost as many decades later, is . . . Why? Why would Harrison Ford reprise a role that has beleaguered him physically as he rounds his 80th birthday? Why would Disney/Lucasfilm green light such an endeavor without spear heads Steven Spielberg and George… Continue reading ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ – Returning to the Well One Last Time?

If the core theme of 2018’s animated masterpiece, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, was “anyone can be under the mask”, its sequel, and in some ways superior work, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, interrogates what it really means to be under the mask. ‘Into’ introduced the idea of multi-dimensional spider-themed heroes linked by common tragedy and the… Continue reading ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ – What Does it Mean to Be Under the Mask?

The third volume of Marvel Studios’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ franchise within a franchise has had a unique path to fruition to say the least. Writer/Director James Gunn, who had brought his own kooky/gooey/funny/heart-on-his-sleeve stamp on the first two volumes and further influenced the rest of the MCU, had been fired from ‘Vol.3’ years ago… Continue reading ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3’ – Did An Exiting James Gunn Deliver?