OK, admittedly there is no fan of either the Marvel cinematic or comic-book universe that was clamoring for a film adaptation of the ‘Ant-Man’ character, a super-hero that can change his size at will and control ants. Despite this, for eight years, writer/director Edgar Wright pushed Marvel Studios to finance his vision of a comedic adventure/heist… Continue reading ‘Ant-Man’ – the super-hero no-one asked for?
Sequels to comedy classics are inherently hard to pull off – the successful ones (’22 Jump Street’, ‘Toy Story 2’) both build on what has come before and take the conceit in a new direction, while the middling ones (‘The Hangover II’, ‘Men in Black II’) directly repeat the same formula, providing decent laughs and evaporating. … Continue reading ‘Ted 2’ – Yet another DOA Comedy Sequel?
‘Kingsman: The Secret Service,’ the newest film by writer-director Matthew Vaughn, is available now for rental after a successful theatrical release earlier this year. It’s an overly violent, darkly comic send-up of the James Bond spy genre based on comic-book writer Mark Millar’s ‘The Secret Service,’ a decidedly adult comic book collaboration between the prolific… Continue reading ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ – Gratuitously Violent Bond Send-Up?
A new Pixar release is almost always a cause for celebration, and ‘Inside Out’ is no exception. It’s a perfectly balanced original creation – an animated entertainment about emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling), that elicits and completely earns these same emotional responses from an audience thoroughly… Continue reading ‘Inside Out’ – Pixar Perfection Continues?
The original ‘Jurassic Park,’ released in the summer of 1993, was a huge blockbuster hit for Steven Spielberg. Its’ now classic elements of wonder and awe quickly turning to fear and horror, still resonate in the collective movie-going psyche. The sequels could never live up to the original, upping the ante on fx and action,… Continue reading ‘Jurassic World’ – Reinvention of a Classic?
George Miller can’t be criticized for being derivative since he basically invented the gas/water-starved, post-apocalyptic, dust-bowl landscape so frequently used and abused since his 1981 masterpiece, “The Road Warrior.” After working on masterful family films like ‘Babe”, he now returns to the sci-fi action genre with another slice of original perfection, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, a… Continue reading ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ – What Happens When a Lunatic Visionary gets to Spend $100+ Million?
With the release of Captain Marvel, Marvel films now have 21(!!) inter-connected movies, and this is a perfect time to re-post my thoughts on their ranking. While they all contain iconic, indelible moments, are all re-watchable, and fans most likely own them all, some are definitely better than others. In that vein, Top Marvel Films… Continue reading All Marvel Cinematic Universe movies ranked – Comic books, a mainstream success?
‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, the hotly anticipated sequel to the 3rd highest grossing film of all time and the 11th movie in the Marvel cinematic universe, drops tomorrow and it’s filled to the brim with superhero goodness, if not quite greatness. Writer / director Joss Whedon had his hands full crafting a follow-up to what… Continue reading ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ – Is it possible to have too much of a good thing?
A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) has been tackled as a concept on film in cinematic masterpieces (‘2001’), classic action franchises (‘Terminator’), and soon-to-be worldwide mega-blockbusters, ‘Avengers 2: Age of Ultron.’ ‘Ex Machina’, the new film written and directed by Alex Garland (known as a novelist and screenwriter for Danny Boyle on movies like ’28 Days Later’ &… Continue reading ‘Ex Machina’ – What constitutes Artificial Intelligence?
The horror genre always seems to be the guinea pig for film experimentation, from the special effects in silent classics like ‘Nosferatu’ to the first real “found footage” flick, ‘The Blair Witch Project.” Risks can be taken on the cheap because as long as there is a savvy hook, young audiences will always show up… Continue reading ‘Unfriended’ – Social network horror, exciting new genre or double-click bore?
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