As far as I’m concerned–at least initially–the best horror is in the sizzle, not the steak. Keep in mind that in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws for a good portion of the movie you never see the shark at all (for the most part a fortuitous accident. The mechanical shark, known affectionately as Bruce, more often than […]
This morning a teaser trailer Zach Snyder’s Batman v Superman was released, and…meh. After all, it’s a teaser trailer, which is little more than a few carefully chosen shots from the upcoming movie seemingly designed to drum up interest. It seems that Warner Bros/ DC Entertainment are taking a somewhat novel approach (‘novel’ in the […]
A teaser trailer was released for Denis Villeneuve‘s Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 original. Looking at the trailer, it–at least on the surface–seems to hold a lot in common with the original. Which is problematic in some ways because the first movie was very much lots of style with relatively little […]
Antoine Fuqua, arguably one of preeminent action directors working today, has once again teamed with Denzel Washington, whom he worked with on Training Day in 2001 and The Equalizer in 2014 with his reboot of John Sturges’ 1960 Western, The Magnificent Seven. And it’s a good movie, though to call it ‘magnificent’ is a bit of hyperbole […]
Visually, Morten Tyldum’s Passengers holds a huge debt to Pixar’s Wall-E, Danny Boyle’s Sunshine and Apple’s design esthetic. In other words, it’s attractive, but doesn’t appear to strike any new ground. The same thing can be said of the story, which revolves around two people who accidentally emerge from suspended animation 90 years too (or was it?), […]
Warner Bros/DC Films’ Justice League Dark has had one of the most confusing journeys in to theaters in recent memory. Originally intended as a project for Guillermo del Toro to direct, for unknown reasons those plans were abandoned, and it morphed into a cartoon (It’s worth mentioning that how the situation unfolded–minus the animation–is vaguely similar to how […]
Can Geoff Johns save the DCEU, otherwise known as the DC Extended Universe? Let’s just say I HIGHLY doubt it. And it’s worth mentioning that I speculate out of love because–while DC characters like Batman and Superman aren’t my favorites–I don’t wish them ill, either. Which is why I find the movies released so far […]
Which, if you follow Warner Bros. and DC Films is pretty much par for the course because, as big as the 67.3 percent fall for Suicide Squad was, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice performed even worse, declining 69 percent. And this is problematic because it all the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) movies so far have lacked legs, and declined precipitously in […]
“David Ayer’s Suicide Squad is a better movie than either Man of Steel or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Which unfortunately isn’t saying all that much.” By my reckoning the greatest problems with Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was that director Zach Snyder forgot–or choose to ignore–two important things: First, both […]
Apparently executives at Warner Bros/DC Films don’t understand that people don’t want murky, unheroic super beings–be they heroes or in this instance, villains. I mention it because reviews have begun to come in for David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, and they’re not…very…good. To be fair, they’re mixed so some that aren’t as bad, such as (on […]
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