-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Time travel — ugh. Terminator Genisys, the latest installment of the humans vs. robots saga, riffs heavily on elements from the first two James Cameron-helmed movies in the series and largely (and wisely) ignores the third and fourth movies. It opens with humanity’s defeat of Skynet in the post-apocalyptic future, the discovery of the malevolent A.I.’s last-ditch … Continue reading
Jurassic Park hit theaters way back in 1993 at just the right time — Michael Crichton’s novel, which had become an instant bestseller three years earlier, was perfect for film and big-budget blockbusters hadn’t yet become over-saturated in CGI effects. Much has changed since then, so much so that one has to ask how a premise as … Continue reading
It’s slickly packaged, but below its surface Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland is a preachy, chaotic jumble of themes and style at odds with itself from the get-go. Its message of fighting for the future while we still have one is certainly admirable, but its ideas on how to are so vague they seem to boil down to … Continue reading
Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) is the closest thing to a cyberpunk filmmaker working today, blending a fascination with emerging technology with a gritty social awareness while asking some uncomfortable philosophical questions. Unfortunately, his ability to explore that territory has only grown more unfocused over the course of his career to date. With his third feature film, … Continue reading
Apocalyptic ticking-clock thrillers/buddy road movies are nothing new — Miracle Mile, The Road, and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World are stronger examples — but they’re rarely done with the kind of fearlessness, originality, or emotional honesty that writer-director Zak Hilditch delivers with These Final Hours. No cheap thrills or hollow romantic … Continue reading
Once upon a time it was possible to at least excuse the cinematic overkill of the Wachowski siblings as a willingness to take chances in pursuit of high-concept storytelling and the desire to push the special effects envelope. There technique was groundbreaking when it worked, and pretentious but still engaging when it didn’t. However, with the risible Jupiter Ascending they seem … Continue reading
It’s difficult to determine who is likely (if at all) to enjoy Predestination: the fans of the classic Robert A Heinlein short story “All You Zombies” that it is based on, or uninitiated genre fans free of preconceived notions about the Spierig Brothers’ time travel flick. The movie is hampered by slavish devotion to the … Continue reading
Splitting the final installment of a book-to-film franchise into two parts has always been a controversial move, and it’s probably never been more questionable than with the Mockingjay — Part 1. By offering the first act of the concluding tale as a stand-alone film, Lionsgate and company have made us wait a year for a plodding, … Continue reading
Christopher Nolan is a filmmaker’s filmmaker, a creatively restless soul who challenges both himself to push the boundaries of his skills and his chosen medium, as well as to challenge the notions of viewers who show up for his movies. This is largely a good thing; his films occasionally feel overstuffed, but never fail to make … Continue reading
It’s tempting to dismiss director Wes Ball’s adaptation of James Dashner’s young adult novel as a Hunger Games knock-off, but to do so would be unfair. A breath of fresh air into what is rapidly becoming a crowded sub-genre, The Maze Runner is a slickly plot-driven flick that delivers the basic sense of adventure that is sometimes missing from its relentlessly brooding cinematic progenitor. The premise is … Continue reading
movie ink™ 