Stargate: Atlantis (2006) – No Man’s Land, and Misbegotten

Season three of Stargate: Atlantis got underway on 14 July, 2006. It was written by Martin Gero and picks up exactly where the season two finale ended. The Daedalus is still engaged with the Wraith hiveship, Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) is leading a squad of 302s against Darts and we get a huge space battle. And…

Stargate: Atlantis (2005) – The Siege: Part 1, and Part 2

Martin Gero launches the first part of the season finale, The Siege: Part 1, which was first broadcast on 18 March, 2005. The Wraith hiveships and darts are drawing close now, and everyone is aware that they are the line between the attackers and the Wraith’s new goal, reaching Earth, which would be a new…

Gladiator II (2024) – Ridley Scott

I greatly enjoy Ridley Scott films, he’s an incredible technical director, even when his films aren’t as emotionally captivating as I would like, there’s always something masterful about his creations. Gladiator II is no different. The first film resonated and struck a chord with filmgoers everywhere. It’s no surprise that the idea of a sequel…

Dreamcatcher (2003) – Lawrence Kasdan

I don’t know why this one didn’t work so well twenty years ago. Lawrence Kasdan (!) directs from a script he wrote with William Goldman (!), based on a novel by Stephen King (!) , a score by James Newton Howard (!) and a top-notch cast; Damian Lewis, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Morgan…

Eraser (1996) – Chuck Russell

Arnold Schwarzenegger fights to save Vanessa Williams and stop an arms deal with terrorists in Eraser. The big guy is John Kruger, a U.S. Marshal who specializes in working the Witness Relocation Program. The opening sequence sets up his abilities and the aspects of the job which see him erasing Johnny C (Robert Pastorelli) to…

Alien: Romulus (2024) – Fede Alvarez

The Alien franchise has had its ups and downs, but the original two films, 1979’s Alien, and 1986’s Aliens, are undeniable classics that have held up and continue to entertain. The universe the films have been set in is seemingly ruled over by the tyrannical Weyland-Yutani corporation that seems to own everything or is in…

Under Paris (2024) – Xavier Gens

Under Paris delivers my second favourite shark movie of all time. The first is Jaws, of course. That whole slew of Sharknado films couldn’t do a damned thing for me. They are so far beyond cheesy that they become an embarrassment. You have to be able to walk a line with shark movies, to balance…

Butterfly Kisses (2018) – Erik Kristopher Myers

Found footage films can be hit or miss, and they usually need something exceptional to lift one above another to make it worthy of note. I think Butterfly Kisses falls into that category. What it ends up being is a film, within a film, about film. Gavin (Seth Adam Kallick), a would-be filmmaker, trying to…

The Exorcist: Believer (2023) – David Gordon Green

For the first few minutes of The Exorcist: Believer I thought that maybe the reviews were wrong, that they had been too harsh, or maybe didn’t understand what the film was trying to do. It’s opening felt, to me, very much in line with the original film, until the earthquake hit, and from that moment…

Sisu (2022) – Jalmari Helander

Sometimes you just want a little of the old ultra-violence and you want to see nazis get the comeuppance you know they deserve. Sisu will check that box for you. Running a brisk ninety minutes there is blood, gore and violence galore as we join an older prospector (Jorma Tommila) in 1944 Finland. He’s left…