As the Rocky, Rambo, and even Police Academy films have all proved over the years, making sequels to movies people like is easy. Making said sequels live up to their predecessors’ standards is a bit harder, though it can be done (Aliens). Francis Ford Coppola didn’t just accomplish this for one of the most acclaimed […]

As you may already know, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the most recent Star Trek films. Instead of fitting the more thoughtful tone, relaxed atmosphere, and steady pacing that made the classic Trek TV shows so timeless, they mainly (“mainly” meaning every one of them except 2009’s surprisingly solid Star Trek, which still had […]

Without a doubt, The Godfather is one of the most vital classic films ever made. Not only is it a towering, masterful cinematic achievement, but it also broke new ground for American cinema, ushering in a whole new wave of influential directors and screenwriters. There was truly nothing like it back then, and there still […]

Nacho Libre is a deeply, deeply stupid movie, which in itself is not a bad thing. In fact, if put in the right hands, even the dumbest of concepts can be made fun, clever, or even smart. Just look at Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which had a really silly plot (a geeky teenager falls […]

Ralph Bakshi’s transition from edgy adult animation (Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic) to more family-oriented fare was, to put it mildly, very rough. Yes 1977’s Wizards is a bit of a cult classic now, and yes, I do understand why: it’s so weird, trippy, and just plain Bakshi (both in his signature “underground” animation style […]

Randomly flipping on Starship Troopers with my dad, I wasn’t hoping for much, but I did expect a few things. I expected it to be a dumb, loud Verhoeven (that is, Paul Verhoeven, director of Robocop, Basic Instinct, and more) sci-fi action flick. I expected it to have tons of ridiculous R-rated carnage. Heck, I […]

Over the years, A24 has produced mostly excellent “independent” films like Ex Machina, Waves, and Uncut Gems (as well as a whole lot more I haven’t seen yet, including Good Time, The Lighthouse, Midsommar, It Comes At Night… I could go on and on), which has lead to me trusting them as a provider of […]

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by an excessively violent group of police officers outside a Minneapolis grocery store, just because he used counterfeit money to pay for some cigarettes there, then refused to return them when challenged about that. Afterwards, the country exploded with violence. Stores have been smashed to pieces, cars […]

Until The Invisible Man, Universal had not had a great time revitalizing its classic horror icons. First there was 2014’s Dracula Untold, which lost money in the States (nearly $20 million, in fact), and soon forgotten by everybody. Only three years later, the studio attempted the launch of its own “Dark Universe” (think of it […]

In honor of the recently deceased gymnast Kurt Thomas, I decided to watch Gymkata, his first—and only—venture into the movie business. It may technically be based off Dan Tyler Moore’s 1957 novel The Terrible Game, but let’s be real here: the film only—and I mean only—exists to piggyback off of Thomas’s stardom, straining at every […]