The late Roger Ebert once gave Jurassic Park a lukewarm 3-star review, broadly criticizing the movie for lacking the subtle nature of Jaws. For him, the monster movie approach in that movie hindered his experience and felt messy in character writing. The film critic’s gripes mainly were that there were too many monsters, and the monsters did not take a back seat
Read MoreUltraman: Rising will not be what longtime fans might expect from the iconic character. Similar to Godzilla, the decade-spanning character has inspired numerous stories and versions through the years. This time Netflix has given it a childlike innocence, throwing a family dynamic in the mix. With Ultraman: Rising, there’s nothing technically new here on paper. We have seen this type of
Read MoreThe Watchers brings in a new member of the Shyamalan family behind the director’s chair. The new kid on the block is Ishana Shyamalan, the daughter of the iconic filmmaker M. Night. For her first trick, we see Shyamalan invoke the literature of A.M. Shine, and the material feels ripe for the typical flavor known behind the famous name. Everything is
Read MoreWhile watching Furiosa; A Mad Max Saga, just remember this is from the same director who made Happy Feet. It’s a fascinating memory to reflect upon that the filmmaker who brought us singing and dancing penguins is also responsible for the nightmarish, brutal landscape surrounding Mad Max. And well, there’s nothing “Happy” about George Miller’s return to the Wasteland of absolute anarchy. The
Read MoreA24’s I Saw The TV Glow features two characters connecting over a childhood program. It’s a movie dissecting how pop culture can unearth something deep inside us. At the same time, how something so mundane, like a song or a kid’s program, can help form connections. However, in the case of I Saw The TV Glow, the hopeful ideas are visualized through the
Read MoreIn the movie Abigail, Radio Silence filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett continue to make a specific type of horror film that harkens back to a bygone era. While horror has always been rich with great films, many recent efforts have been more serious and challenging to rewatch, such as Midsommar and The Witch. It’s been a while since directors have
Read MoreGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire is gifted with the same creative fortitude as Creed III. With the third Rocky spin-off, Michael B. Jordan was thirsty to place his fingerprint on the franchise. Jordan took inspiration from his love for Anime films, such as Naruto, and injected his directorial debut with the sensibilities of those animated images. The fourth film of the Godzilla franchise sees director Adam Wingard accomplishing a similar feat. It’s not
Read MoreGhostbusters: Frozen Empire brings the misfit family from Afterlife and returns the saga to The Big Apple. Moreover, it sees the original Ghostbusters team back in action, albeit briefly. With a cast of legacy characters and familiar settings, one might wonder if the franchise brought back the old familiar spark. Well, they almost hit the bullseye. And while this sequel is not the
Read MoreOnce in a blue moon, a movie comes along that feels different. For this writer, experiences such as The Matrix or even Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man had a quality to their execution that felt progressive in their blockbuster styles. Dune: Part Two is the first movie in a decade that feels like it is pushing the art form. We live in
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