Robin Hood (2010) – Ridley Scott

Director Ridley Scott does away with the romp and romantic adventure that has permeated the Robin Hood myth down through the ages, and through a number of onscreen iterations to tell a more historical-based version of the tale. He packs it with stars, but the lack of derring-do may have kept audiences away, who knew…

Dune (2021) – 4K Review

Warner Brothers made sure they started my 2022 right by getting a 4K copy of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune into my hands to blow my mind. One of my favorite films of the year, this disc is a that you’re going to want to put on anytime you want to demo the beauty and the sharpness…

TIFF 2021: Dune dir. Denis Villeneuve

Magnificent. Triumphant. THIS is the movie I saw in my mind’s eye when I first read Dune in 1984 when I was anticipating the Lynch film (which I love for its own reasons). The visual aesthetic, the sound and production design, the score (I swear Hans Zimmer isn’t the only one throwing a few nods…

Ex Machina (2014) – Alex Garland

Alex Garland wrote and directed this stunning film, his first feature, that explores the concepts of Artificial Intelligence and the desire to live and survive. When a young programmer, Caleb (Domhall Gleeson) wins a contest to spend a week at his boss, Nathan’s (Oscar Isaac), remote estate, he loves the idea, when Nathan reveals that…

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

A space age fairy tale. No matter the themes, social commentary or underpinnings we wish to assign the Skywalker Saga, culminating with the release of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars has always been a space age fairy tale – there are princesses (turned general), knights (both good and bad), evil lords, fortresses,…

Annihilation (2018): Blu-Ray Review

Releasing from Paramount Pictures to blu-ray and DVD today is Annihilation a slow burn of a science fiction film from director Alex Garland. Based, subjectively, on the trilogy of novels by Jeff VanderMeer, it’s a gorgeous looking film A strange, possibly extra-terrestrial incursion in a swamp in Florida has claimed an untold number of teams…

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) – Bryan Singer

  There’s probably a good, or at least a passable story somewhere amongst the mutants, Singer as a director has done some nice work with Marvel’s X-Men franchise in the past, but this time, it just feels like too much flash, and no substance. To say the visual effects super-saturate this film is an understatement….

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) – J.J. Abrams

  Sure, the film has only been open for one weekend, but at this point, there is absolutely nothing new for me to add to the discussion of the film. I’m still processing it so much of it, I mean after 30 years we get to see what really happened to our favorite characters, and…