Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

I really enjoyed Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 hard-edged thriller ‘Sicario’, a lot more than I expected to (which thankfully also happened with his ‘Blade Runner 2049’). It’s a straightforward cops-in-deep flick that somehow transcends the expected trappings of the genre; through natural performances, gorgeous cinematography, and deliberate pacing. There’s some very mature work on display, both […]

Upgrade (2018)

Two movies in one weekend?! What a LOSER! Yeah, yeah…I know. (head hangs in shame). But, while we’re at it…let me tell you about this movie I saw… Australian Writer / Director / Actor Leigh Whannell (‘Saw’), like his partner-in-crime and fellow Aussie James Wan (‘Insidious’), has done well for himself so far, in jolly […]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Even at their worst (ahem…looking at YOU, ‘Jurassic Park 3’!), the ‘Jurassic’ series is, if nothing else, entertaining. Let’s be honest, they’re not what you would call ‘high art’. It’s humans arrogantly messing with genetics and then having to fight for survival when their tinkering literally turns to bite them, in the form of de-extinct’d […]

Runaway Train (1985)

I’ve dropped this same sorta anecdote into other reviews of older films that I’ve done before and unfortunately, Dear Reader…it’s time for another trip down Memory Lane, to that wonderful time that was the 1980’s, into the phenomenon known as The Video Store. Even though my father is a talented musician, somehow movies instead were […]

Valerian and The City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Luc Besson is a director I’ve been keeping an eye on for years, going back to the first film of his I ever saw; ‘La Femme Nikita’ (1990). After being taken in by the gritty-but-ridiculous story of a former drug-addict street punk-turned-sexy assassin, I made a point of checking out his acclaimed ocean-set free diving […]

Mother! (2017)

Writer / Director Darren Aronofsky has never been what you would call ‘mainstream’. I’ve kept an eye on his material going back to his debut in 1998, with the unsettling B/W mini-masterpiece ‘Pi’, which admittedly made a lasting impression on me, despite my distaste for abstract mathematics. From there, he went on to the beautifully […]

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Let’s dispense with the bullshit, shall we…NO ONE is ever going to fully replace my man Harrison Ford as either ‘Indiana Jones’ or ‘Han Solo’. Knowing that, within my heart of hearts, I was instantly skeptical when I heard that The Mouse House was going to be making their second anthology film the origin story […]

Small Tales: A ‘Just Cuz’ Project

EPISODE ONE: WATER HEATER BLUES “All it took was one quiet phone call from my undercover LAPD informant…one name drop, one location…and I was on the case. I’d been looking for this particular low-life for months. Now…it was MY turn!”– Stunt Pilot / Crime Fighter Cliff Secord. Our intrepid hero, Cliff Secord, otherwise known as […]

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Well, the Summer Blockbuster season is in full swing yet again…and ‘DP2’ fits in perfectly! It’s a nifty sequel to a surprisingly successful first film that took chances and delighted audiences with it’s tonally perfect (ie crass) presentation and winking-at-the-audience execution. And if you liked the first one…you WILL get a kick out of #2! […]

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Wow…I’m almost at the point of giving up, when it comes to opening my reviews of Marvel titles with something akin to “Gee, Marvel does it again, dear reader…surprise surprise!”…because now it just feels redundant. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that whatever the next Marvel flick is, odds are, it’s at least going to […]