Interrupting one science fiction series about a dystopian universe with a nefarious villain in power for the second film in a lesser-known science fiction series about the same thing. The first film in this series, DIVERGENT, was a decent enough flick, even if it felt a bit like a HUNGER GAMES copycat. This sequel popped up on HBO and my wife is a huge fan of star Shailene Woodley, so it was an easy enough decision to make.
Half of ’em down, half to go. I hadn’t seen any of the STAR WARS movies in their entirety in quite awhile, but my kids have the original trilogy on so much that revisiting those won’t be so alien. But this third film in the second trilogy has gotten little play (not the least because it is the most brutal of the films), so it truly felt like it’s been ten years since I last saw it.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks STAR WARS: EPISODE III – THE REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005)’
Continuing through the STAR WARS films in chronological order – not release order – in anticipation of the newest film. THE PHANTOM MENACE is memorably bad. I hadn’t seen ATTACK OF THE CLONES since 2002 when it was in theaters. My memory of it recalled a terrible scene of banter in a field. But, otherwise, it wasn’t overwhelmingly terrible. Thirteen years after its initial release, how has it held up?
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks STAR WARS: EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002)’
I watched this movie last back in summer of 2012. I was thinking, back then, of going through all six STAR WARS movies in order for the first time. But my experiencing revisiting THE PHANTOM MENACE was bad enough that I didn’t move on. Since then, though, my son has gotten a little older. He is five now, and he is absolutely obsessed with STAR WARS. He went through the newer trilogy fairly quickly, and now focuses mostly on the originals. He especially loves THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Anyway, his thirst for knowledge about the universe has certainly heightened greatly my own awareness of all things STAR WARS. I haven’t just sat down and watched any of the movies straight through, though, and I thought I should do so before taking him to see THE FORCE AWAKENS at the end of the month.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE (1999)’
WING COMMANDER was considered a bad movie almost before anyone saw it. Based on a video game during an era that being so was not a positive label. Never saw it in the past decade and a half, but seemed like a reasonable selection for late on a Friday night.
Way back in late 2008, I was doing a podcast with my wife, my brother, and our great friend. It was called the Iocaine Project (lofty little PRINCESS BRIDE reference), and we had a ton of fun. The podcast had a website, and I decided to write a couple of movie articles for it. The first was OUT OF SIGHT, and the second was GROSSE POINTE BLANK. Both were long time favorite movies of mine, and writing about them re-sparked an interest in considering movies in a more complete way. Off of these two articles, I decided to start writing a blog on January 1st, 2009. I’ve written about every single movie I have watched since. So, in a very direct way, I owe the origin of this blog to this great crime caper film.
This movie was a big deal to me growing up. The Farrelly Brothers were from my hometown of Cumberland, RI and much of the movie was shot there. It was our big introduction to the world’s stage. Not that anyone outside of our little state even noticed that the movie took place there. I was already a big Jim Carrey fan thanks to ACE VENTURA when this came out (I was all of 12 when DUMB & DUMBER came out), so this was definitely a favorite for a number of years. It has been a long time since I went back to it, though, so I was curious to see how it held up.
Took a flier on this horror/thriller late one night via HBOGo. I can’t imagine anyone would actually seek this out by choice. Ever.
I have to pick a show to direct in the fall. 40 minute time limit. Needs to be dynamic and unique. For some reason, every time I watch a B-movie, I think how cool it would be to get the rights to one of these old sci-fi flicks and turn it into a self-aware stage play. Separately, a former student messaged me tonight and asked me to work on a writing project which involved a gender neutral scenario. That got me to thinking… what if one of these B-movies was done with the males in the subservient female roles, and the females in the dominant male roles. That would be something. Anyway, I was thinking about that as I watched IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE. But that has nothing to do with what follows…
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE (1958)’
We’ve felt like a bunch of the movies we have watched lately have been of low value. It’s a fair assessment. So my wife and I decided to pick something we thought would be quality. We settled on one neither had seen, ZODIAC, by a director, David Fincher, who has a track record for delivering movies which… well… deliver.
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