Marvel brings their first family into the MCU with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It’s charming, and has some solid casting, but it never really has the impact that this iconic team deserves. And that may be due to superhero fatigue. Marvel and Disney have upped the audience of dosage of superheroes that everything feels…
Tag: production design
The Shadow (1994) – Russell Mulcahy
I remember taking this one home from work at the video store when it came out. And I enjoyed it. Sure that was some thirty years ago (how is that possible?), would I still like it if I watched it today? Apparently the answer is yes. A pulpy blend of special effects, characters and production…
Top Secret! (1984) – Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, and Jim Abrahams
It’s been a couple of decades since I last watched Top Secret! I remember from my time working in a video store that it was a perennial favourite of my friend Ted. And with the passing of Val Kilmer, I felt it was definitely time to take it in again. And wow, did I laugh….
The Night House (2020) – David Bruckner
Rebecca Hall turns a fantastic performance as Beth, a recently widow who is being haunted figuratively and literally as she learns dark secrets about her late husband, Owen (Evan Jonigkeit). Living in the house that Owen built, she begins to feel a presence in the house with her, and the way corners and arches come…
Robin Hood (2018) – Otto Bathurst
Every decade or so filmmakers try to deliver a new version of the legendary outlaw, Robin Hood. There’s something about the character that keeps drawing us back. Everyone seems to know the basics, and each iteration seems to want to play with the characters, and story and try and do something new. Sometimes it works,…
The Mummy’s Hand (1940) – Christy Cabanne
I dig into more Universal monsters this week to the first sequel to The Mummy. Released in 1940, The Mummy’s Hand features Tom Tyler as the Mummy. It’s hard to come down on anyone’s side on this one nowadays. The ‘heroes’ are led by an archeologist, Steve Banning (Dick Foran) who is a snappily-dressed American…
The Wild Geese (1978) – Andrew V. McLaglen
The Wild Geese has a horrible title song, but then as I watched the credits I saw that it had production design by Syd Cain, and its opening title sequence was done by Maurice Binder. It also has a very impressive leading cast, Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore. Not bad. And while the…
TIFF24: Heretic dir. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods deliver a masterclass in anxiety-inducing tension with Heretic. Shot brilliantly with tight close-ups, Beck and Woods continually ratchet things up even as they present a theology lesson that is as conversation-starting as the film is unnerving. Sister Paxton (Chloe East) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) are young Mormons canvassing for…
Starman (1986) – The Return, and Like Father, Like Son
John Carpenter’s Starman resonated with a lot of people, and it seems that in the 80s spin-off series were happening fairly regular, there was Fame, Fast Times, 9 to 5, and Private Benjamin. There are a number of issues with the series but I was eager to dig into it and see how it stands…
Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024) – Zack Snyder
I don’t know why I had my hoped built up for this, the first one disappointed me, and this one didn’t do much better. The main plot still follows the group of fighters that have been recruited by Kora (Sofia Boutella) to protect the people of Veldt from the evil imperial forces that are returning…
The Mind Reels 