Fire and Ash is an experiential popcorn movie. It needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, and while 3D has some detractors, it is used beautifully in this film. This is a movie-going experience. Having said that, I miss James Cameron’s early work, Aliens, The Abyss, The Terminator, and T2, even True Lies….
Tag: story
Weapons (2025) – Zach Cregger
Much like Cregger’s previous film, Barbarian, it’s best to go into this film for the first time with no real knowledge beyond what is provided by the poster… one night, almost all the kids from a single classroom disappeared. What happened? That’s the initial launching point for a story that shifts narratives and fractures fairy…
Dead of Winter (2025) – Brian Kirk
Emma Thompson stars in this white-knuckle thriller that features a layered performance, and some stand-out moments. With Finland standing in for Minnesota, Thompson braves the cold as Barb who sets out for Lake Hilda for personal reasons. A goodbye needs to be made. Along the way, she has an unnerving encounter with a man in…
The Woman in Green (1945) – Roy William Neill
Man, I really liked how this Sherlock Holmes adventure started out, but the second half kinda lost me. Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back, and despite some goofy narration to set up the tale at the beginning, instead of letting the film tell the story, I was really engaged with the idea….
The House of Fear (1945) – Roy William Neill
Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Watson (Nigel Bruce) are back for their tenth outing together in The House of Fear. Based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Five Orange Pips, this one leans into using the Universal Monsters sets and, consequently has a very gothic feel to it. When a gathering of gentlemen, known as the…
Stargate SG-1 (2002) – Fail Safe, and The Warrior
SG-1 take on Deep Impact and Armageddon in Fail Safe. Written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, this episode was first broadcast on 5 April, 2002. A large asteroid is discovered in the solar system, it’s path is determined to be on a direct line for Earth which may cause an extinction level event. O’Neill…
The Mistletoe Mystery (2024) – Nita Prose
I absolutely loved Nita Prose’s The Maid and The Mystery Guest. I love her writing style, I love the way she creates her story and mystery and the characters she’s created, over the course of two books have become friends. So, when I heard there was a Christmas novella, The Mistletoe Mystery, I wanted to…
No Escape (1994) – Martin Campbell
I don’t know what is about Martin Campbell movies. Outside of his entries in the James Bond franchise, they kind of just fizzle for me. They generally have solid casts, and at least the potential for a good story, and he knows how to orchestrate a shot and stage a sequence, but they never really…
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,…
Gorky Park (1983) – Michael Apted
I remember seeing the book cover for Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith everywhere in the early 80s. I suppose had I wanted to I could have read it then. My parents were pretty liberal with letting me read whatever I wanted, and I had just started delving into mysteries, I read a couple of…
The Mind Reels 