Tag: science fiction
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Hey, at least it was only 86 minutes long: AVP:R – Aliens vs. Predator – Requiem
Ridley Scott’s original Alien is one of the most effective and influential horror films ever made, and a personal favorite of mine, with no apologies. Its art direction and visual aesthetic were so far ahead of their time that pretty much only the hairstyles have dated, but the real keys to its longevity are its…
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Sold out but not a soldier: Richard Kelly’s bizarre Southland Tales
I don’t know if the roughly 140 minute version of Southland Tales that made it to DVD is a butchered or merely abbreviated version of a masterpiece, but what I just saw is an unholy mess. I’m one of director Richard Kelly’s apologists for his divisive film Donnie Darko, which I found strangely affecting. Like…
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9/11-ploitation: J.J. Abrams’ Cloverfield
First of all, let me just say I get it. I get that Cloverfield is meant to be a modern day analogue of Godzilla. I get that postwar Japanese moviegoers witnessed an enraged giant lizard borne of nuclear technology stomp Tokyo flat in an unstoppable pique, and I get that Godzilla became a classic for…
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M. Night Shyamalan squanders the last of his goodwill in The Lady in the Water
I don’t know where to start with this one. I’ve been a M. Night Shyamalan fan from the very beginning, even when the role was better described as apologist. Even to a fan, nearly every film comes with a “yeah, but…” disclaimer: The Sixth Sense is an excellent piece of slight-of-hand with some genuine emotion,…
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Peter Cushing as Doctor Who in Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.
Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D., the second Doctor Who feature film, follows Dr. Who & The Daleks by one short year, and clearly betrays where the public’s interest lay at the time by ditching any mention of Dr. Who in the title. The first film largely disregarded the TV show’s premise and continuity, and the…
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Peter Cushing brings Doctor Who to the big screen in Dr. Who & The Daleks
Dr. Who & The Daleks is the first of two feature films based on the classic BBC TV series Doctor Who. They are, as the fans say, “non-canonical,” and thank god for it. The TV series was a true all-ages affair; typically enjoyable for children, but with extra layers of subtext for grownups (or at…
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2001: A Space Odyssey on the big screen at New York’s Ziegfeld theater
One of the best movies ever made, on one of the biggest screens in New York. What could be better? It’s taken me many years and many viewings to realize that the movie is actually very, very funny. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising for a movie that directly followed Dr. Strangelove, but the sombre serious air…
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John Woo’s Paycheck isn’t fun, weird, or subversive enough for a Philip K. Dick tale
When it comes to action cinema maestros like John Woo — I can enjoy the the hyped-up action and weirdness of something like Face/Off, but find that the extreme violence and gunplay can sometimes cross the line from escapism into being inhumane. Paycheck, scoring a mere PG-13 from the MPAA, is less violent than most…