With DR. STRANGE IN THE MULITVERSE OF MADNESS, we are gifted with a thimbleful of plot in a vast expanse of cinematic ocean. This being yet another piece of the equally vast Marvel Universe, the story is obliged to take its hero, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), from Point A to Point B in order to… Read More »
LOGAN
The standalone X-Men story, LOGAN, dares much with its darkness, and achieves even more by being an emotionally brutal story that relies on character, not spectacle, to pack its considerable wallop. A tale that is as psychically violent as it is physically so, it is a sharp descant to the earlier films in the franchise… Read More »
GREEN ROOM
THE GREEN ROOM is technically flawless. Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier has crafted a horror film that plays upon the well-chosen phobias about extremists, backwoods rough justice, and the down side of the music business. Yet, for all the graphic flourishes of dog-mangled throats, a close-up belly slitting, and the results of gunfire meeting flesh, this is… Read More »
STAR TREK: NEMESIS
The problem with reviewing any Star Trek film is that it is a no-win situation from the point of view of both the fan and the anti-fan. If I praise it, I will be accused of being a Trekker. If it slam it, its because I dont like Trek in general and diss the flick… Read More »
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
Oh how the mighty have fallen. X-MEN: THE LAST STAND is the third installment in what until now has been a sterling franchise and its failings are an affront to what has come before. To be sure, the fine philosophical underpinnings, one of the series’ hallmarks, are still there, but with a new director, Brett… Read More »
X-MEN 2
Alas it is all too true that for the most part when it comes to filmed entertainment, we are forced to choose between spectacle and story. Think, for example, of the gulf between STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES and THE PIANIST. X-MEN 2 presents us with a third option. First-rate and imaginative special effects… Read More »