A highly enjoyable flick. Not quite as tight as the first one was, but it definitely didn’t jump the shark. The two-villains thing works fine when one villain is paying the other, rather than a cheesy team-up. And the Black Widow wasn’t so much a love interest as an extra special effect that flirted … More Iron Man 2 Verdict
I didn’t catch the opening of Iron Man 2 yet, but several things I’ve read about the movie have got me worried. I have no expectation that it will be as good as the first one; I’d be happy with merely decent. My worry is that the Iron Man movie franchise has already completely jumped … More Five Signs a Superhero Movie Franchise Has Jumped the Shark
Part 3 of my recommendations of great SF from 2009 – fantasy & scifi on the screen, including film, television, and other miscellaneous forms of dramatized entertainment. (Just wait until you see the miscellaneous.) These are the works that I’ve nominated for the Bradbury Award (basically, the Nebula Award for Dramatic Presentation – technically not … More Recommended Fantasy & SciFi On the Screen from 2009
Last night I was hanging out with my cuz, searching for a movie to watch amidst the labyrinth of on-demand menus, and he mentioned he’d never seen E.T. And I was all, “You’ve never seen E.T.!?” and so we immediately ended our search and purchased it for the very reasonable price of $1.99. I was … More E.T. Rewatch
Saw District 9 the other day and I think I liked it. It’s one of those movies that takes a while to sink in, that requires some marinating before you can really be sure how it tastes. The clearly-cool thing about it is that it’s totally different from any SF movie ever made. It has … More Thoughts on District 9
A couple weeks ago, Hassan and I were at Blockbuster, on the neverending quest for a good movie to rent, and we stumbled across the recently released “independent zombie comedy” Dance of the Dead. I know there are some zombie-lovers out there, and I thought you might be into a movie where zombies invade a … More Zombies Take Over Prom
Okay, so last weekend, Hassan and I went to see Twilight. We’d already seen High School Musical 3, so we didn’t really have any choice. Wait, no, I need to start earlier. This past summer at the life-changing, high-altitude Taos Toolbox writing workshop, Kelly Link (amazing writer and mindblowing instructor) provided a fascinating, detailed description of the “sparkly … More Twilight: Questions and Concerns
The new Star Trek trailer came out last week. This version has a different ending, with a cameo by Leonard Nimoy as old Spock: On first viewing, the trailer got me excited. Going back to a younger Kirk and Spock seems promising, especially after several lackluster movies that felt like they were covering well-trodden territory (or, … More JJ Abrams & Star Trek: New Hope or Disaster Movie?
I saw Burn After Reading on Friday night with Hassan and my friend Logan. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting but still well worth seeing. The cast is a veritable Justice League of actors, with Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Frances McDormond, all of whom give great performances. John Malkovich is amazing … More Burn After Reading – not quite as advertised, but worth seeing
Bread & Magic 