Battle Royale II is very much a different creation from its predecessor. Set three years after the events of the first movie this film moves the film mythology forward. Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and Noriko (Aki Maeda) have made their escape, and Shuya has now started what the rest of the world calls a terrorist organization,…
Tag: callbacks
Diablo Mesa (2022) – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Grand Central Publishing was kind enough to send me the latest Preston & Child thriller, Diablo Mesa, which came out in February. It had been a long time since I dug into a Preston & Child book, but back in 2014, I was plowing through their Pendergast series until my pile of To Be Read…
Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019) – Stephen Cognetti
Found footage can be hit or miss. To attempt a trilogy what works solely with that sub-genre is pretty ambitious, and I think, for the most part, writer/director Stephen Cognetti pulls it off. And if you watch all three films in close succession, as I have, they flow a lot better, and he wraps everything…
The Matrix Resurrections (2021) – 4K Review
Warner Brothers has sent me back to The Matrix with a copy of their 4K version of The Matrix Resurrections, which is available today in wonderful physical media form of blu-ray and 4K disc. Like everything after the first film, released back in 1999, this installment is as divisive as Reloaded and Revolutions, but for…
The Lovely Bones (2009) – Peter Jackson
Director Peter Jackson adapted Alice Sebold’s heartbreaking novel, The Lovely Bones, to the big screen alongside his collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, and while there are a lot of differences from the book to film (the novel definitely has more adult themes, and things were toned down for the teen, twenty-something audiences), and some…
Star Trek: Sarek (1994) – A.C. Crispin
A.C. Crispin, who delivered the wonderful Yesterday’s Son saga early in the Pocket Books series cranked out a giant Trek novel for 1994 that gave us insight into Spock’s father, Sarek. While also continuing the story of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701A. This adventure takes place shortly after the events of The Undiscovered Country, so despite…
Star Wars: Rebels (2015) – Relics of the Old Republic, Always Two There Are, and Brothers of the Broken Horn
Rex and the rest of the ageing clones (all Dee Bradley Baker) fight alongside the Ghost crew as the Imperials track them down in Relics of the Old Republic. Written by Steven Melching, this episode first debuted on on 21 October, 2015. Ezra (Taylor Gray), Kanan (Freddie Prinze jr.), Zeb (Steve Blum) and Sabine (Tiya…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998) – Image in the Sand, and Shadows and Symbols
Station log: stardate unknown Ira Steven Behr and Hand Beimler pen the season seven opener that ties in directly to the final episode of last season, with the wormhole aliens, or the Prophets as the Bajoran religion refers to them, still cut off from Bajor, and from their Emissary, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) after…
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998) – Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night, and Inquisition
Station log: stadate unknown Hans Beimler and Ira Steven Behr pen this Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) story that first aired on 1 April, 1998. When the Cardassian, Dukat (Marc Alaimo) stuns Kira with the revelation that he claims her Bajoran mother was his lover during the occupation she turns to Sikso (Avery Brooks) not as…
Mary Poppins Returns (2018) – Rob Marshall
Opening tomorrow, Mary Poppins Returns is an old school, classic Walt Disney film in the magical sense of the words. Knowing that it has to take on one of the iconic characters from the Disney filmography, Mary Poppins Returns has a big umbrella to fill, not to mention those shoes! But the Emily Blunt led…
The Mind Reels 