Batman Begins (2005, Christopher Nolan)
Well, now, I’m surprised. Batman Begins is not terrible. It’s not good either. Not good at all. It has damning faults in three areas, and since this film is the first critically praised one I’ve...
View ArticleHulk (2003, Ang Lee)
Hulk had a huge box office drop-off after its opening weekend–wow, almost seventy percent. It’s actually somewhat lucky, because I’d have thought people would have gotten up and walked out of the...
View ArticlePrince of Darkness (1987, John Carpenter)
I’d forgotten Prince of Darkness‘s more fanciful notions–Jesus the space alien, still sent to Earth to save us from the Devil, but this time, the Devil’s kind of a space alien too (or not)–and its less...
View ArticleMars Attacks! (1996, Tim Burton)
I remember seeing Mars Attacks! in the theater–in those days, the pre-Sleepy Hollow days, I was quite the Tim Burton aficionado. That affection has changed (changed is the polite word) in the last...
View ArticleEscape from New York (1981, John Carpenter)
Man and boy, I’ve probably seen Escape from New York ten times. This viewing might be the first where I noticed the film’s quietness. Carpenter uses the relative silence to make the first third (even...
View ArticleJurassic Park III (2001, Joe Johnston)
Jurassic Park III is about a third of a movie. Even though it runs ninety minutes (minus however many minutes in end credits), there aren’t any characters and the running time is mostly spent on the...
View ArticleBig Trouble in Little China (1986, John Carpenter)
Although Big Trouble in Little China takes place in modern day San Francisco and has a whole bunch of awesome special effects, it’s really just John Carpenter doing another Western. This time he’s...
View ArticleStarman (1984, John Carpenter)
Starman’s first forty or so minutes speed by–director Carpenter gets as much information across as quickly as he can to discourage the viewer from paying too much attention. There aren’t exactly plot...
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