Sci-fi fans know the name James Wong from his work on The X-Files, and Space: Above and Beyond, and eagle-eyed fans will recognize more than a few faces as Wong delivers this sci-fi actioner that he shot in Vancouver. Trotting out the idea of the multiverse several years before the MCU made it mainstream, he…
Tag: visual effects
Magnum P.I. (2018) – The Ties That Bind, and Bad Day to Be a Hero
Thomas (Jay Hernandez) takes a case involving a kidnapped girl, she’s been returned, but she’s not the same person anymore, and her parents want the person who took her captured. At the same time, we learn a little more about what happened when Magnum and his friends were held by the Taliban when they were…
Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Art and Visual Effects (2020) – Jeff Bond and Gene Kozicki
I have loved Star Trek: The Motion Picture since the first time I saw it in 1979. I remember the theatre I was in, I remember being swept up by the music and imagery, it blew my young little mind, and just made me love the characters, especially the Enterprise all the more. My fascination…
The Creator (2023) – Gareth Edwards
There’s a lot to like about The Creator, though it could be argued it’s a little too slow. There seems to be an intentional parallel between the battle between Artificial Intelligence and the Vietnam War, as the film sees America involved in a war with New Asia, not the people, but those they are harbouring,…
Johnny Mnemonic (1995) – Robert Longo
William Gibson wrote the screenplay for Johnny Mnemonic based on one of his short stories, but you get the impression it changed a lot from what he had written to what ended up on the screen. A lot of the tech seems to be glossed over, and with an hour-and-a-half runtime, this film feels like…
Moloch (2022) – Nico Van Den Brink
The Dutch film, Moloch, delivers some solid folk horror in this atmospheric tale. Betriek (Sallie Harmsen) lives a quiet life, looking after her daughter, while trying to forget the trauma that scarred her as a child, when her grandmother was murdered. This has caused a bit of conflict between her and her own mother, Elske…
The Final Girls (2015) – Todd Strauss-Schulson
The Final Girls is a delightfully meta-horror comedy with an emotional heart thanks to the performances of Taissa Farmiga and Malin Akerman. Farmiga is Max Cartwright, the daughter of Alexandra (Akerman) who has always wanted to be a movie star, but keeps getting recalled for her one big role, in an 80s cult classic slasher…
Ad Astra (2019) – James Gray
James Gray delivers one of the most authentic looks at space travel since Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, throw in a little of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and you have the basic groundwork for this science fiction drama that sees astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) travelling to the outer reaches of our solar system, all…
47 Meters Down (2017) – Johannes Roberts
Mandy Moore and Claire Holt star in 47 Meters Down a fairly well-realized white-knuckle thriller from Johannes Roberts. Whatever you think of the concept of the story, a pair of sisters stuck 47 meters down in shark-infested waters, Roberts is able to tap into some very primal fears, add in some solid visual effects work…
The Marvels (2023) – Nia DaCosta
Superhero fatigue is real. We seem to be so inundated with comic book stories now, they’re everywhere, films, television series, video games and actual comic books. Disney has gone to town building and expanding their MCU and even as the series and movies keep coming it’s been hard to get excited about new entries because…
The Mind Reels 