The Godfather Trilogy – Francis Ford Coppola

Paramount Pictures is celebrating the 45th anniversary with a re-release of the 1972 classic The Godfather, and its two sequels. I have a bit of a sordid history with these films. I’ve never been a fan of crime family stories, I can’t relate to them, and have never understood the hypocrisy that seems inherent in…

Deep Impact (1998) – Mimi Leder

Releasing the same year as Michael Bay’s big budget, small story, extravaganza, Armageddon, Deep Impact got a little lost in the rubble. But with Steven Spielberg’s name attached to it as executive producer, it’s my next stop on the Sci-Fi Chronicles. Eschewing the flash-bang, style over substance, popcorn nature of Bay’s film, Deep Impact, ably…

The Road (2009) – John Hillcoat

  We jump genres now in the Great Movies – 100 Years of film book, and I dive into Sci-Fi-Fantasy-Horror (though I would argue they could all be separate categories. The first title, Metropolis (such a gorgeous film), and almost all of its recommendations, I have reviewed previously for the blog, so the one recommendation left…

Jack Reacher (2012) – Christopher McQuarrie

  Ok. Let’s get this out-of-the-way first… the bus stop gag does not work, and is downright silly. I took a quick break from my lists today to hit Netflix and have a look at the latest Tom Cruise vehicle, Jack Reacher. I’d read a couple of the books by Lee Child, and was interested…

THX 1138 (1971) – George Lucas

A long time ago, in decades far far away, George Lucas was just a plaid wearing film student, who remade his student film into a full length feature. It flopped at the time, but found it’s way onto the 101 Sci-Fi Films list. Where his later work with the original Star Wars trilogy was a…