It took over 50 years, but this Disney classic finally got a sequel. Is it a Toy Story level sequel that easily stands beside or above the original, is it a direct to video cash grab quality sequel that never should have been made, or is it something in between?
Category Archives: Movies
Movie Review: Aquaman (2018)
DC’s latest attempt at making a big splash with their cinematic universe has arrived.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) Review
Odds are good you grew up with Spider-Man. He was made when you were a kid, you watched his cartoon, slept on his sheets, and left the house wearing him on your butt. This is about Miles Morales, who is not your Spider-Man, he’s the new Spider-Man. To introduce us, they bring in our Peter Parker Spider-Man, but who has also aged with us, so now he’s a middle aged, divorced web-slinger with a bit of a gut. To flesh out the story, we get Spider-Gwen, the young punk version of the original Spider-Man’s girlfriend with Spidey powers, and just to flesh it all out we also have the 1930 black and white Spider-Man Noir, Peter Porker the Spectacular Spider-Ham, and Peni Parker, the anime Spider-Mech pilot. With all of this, obviously there is something for everyone, or did you need some Continue reading →
Spidey soars. Mortal Engines? Not so much
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse nabbed the biggest December opening for an animated film, netting $35 million. Mortal Engines, from Peter Jackson, only managed $7 million (on a $100 Million budget).
“The Christmas Chronicles” (2018) – Make Me Watch It #24
The latest subject of Make Me Watch It is The Christmas Chronicles (2018), directed by Clay Kaytis. The updated and maintained list of options for “Make Me Watch It” can be found here. You can name up to ten movies you’d like me to cover here. The series can also be found on Stitcher, on iTunes, or in a direct RSS feed.
Avengers 4 Trailer
There’s not much here, but at least one missing character returns.
Rumblings in the Marvel TV/Cinematic Universe
Luke Cage. Iron Fist and Daredevil have been cancelled, despite the huge success of the most recent DD season. Jessica Jones and The Punisher likely have one more go-round, if only because they’re already in production.
However, Daredevil (and the others?) “will live on in future projects for Marvel,” according to a spokesperson.
Disney’s own streaming service will be continuing Marvel-Television, with its Scarlet Witch and Vision series, and a Loki series, both announced back in September.
Will Disney’s move mean greater interplay between Marvel’s movie and TV characters?
What do we want to see? What will we see?
Memorial Review: Don’t Look Now (1973)
Nicholas Roeg has passed away at the age of 90.
The influential British filmmaker first made his name as a cinematographer, working on such classics as Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, and Fahrenheit 451. He got his directorial career off to a rocking start with the controversial Performance (1970) starring Mick Jagger. Roeg was no stranger to genre; his films include The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) and The Witches (1990).1 Many people remember him for the movie we’re reviewing as a memorial, Don’t Look Now (1973). The cryptic cult classic combines Hitchcockian style and psychological horror with twists supernatural (or science-fictional, I suppose, depending on your interpretation of the film).
Rest in Peace.
It’s questionable whether the characters in this film can.
“Psycho II” (1983) – Make Me Watch It 23
The latest subject of Make Me Watch It is Psycho II (1983), directed by Richard Franklin. The podcast about the original I mentioned here and guest starred on can be found here. (Look for episode 60.) The updated and maintained list of options for “Make Me Watch It” can be found here. You can name up to ten movies you’d like me to cover here. The series can also be found on Stitcher, on iTunes, or in a direct RSS feed.
October Countdown: Halloween (2018)
The original Halloween1 launched a genre, numerous sequels, and a couple of remakes. None match the purity or the quality of the original. Forty years after Mike Myers first stalked onto the screen, we have this sequel, which ignores everything in between. Myers has been incarcerated since ’78 and Laurie Strode (not his sister in this version) has become disturbed herself, an eccentric survivalist whose life has been defined and shaped by that long-ago night. Her estranged daughter has a teenage daughter, and they all live in and around Haddonfield.
Then, in the least-surprising development since the time that couple who didn’t get on fell in love by the end of the Rom-Com, the Shape escapes.