Godzilla (2014)

In 1954, Japan’s Toho Company unleashed ‘Gojira’ upon its movie-going public. Influenced, at least in part, by the original ‘giant rampaging beast’ movie ‘King Kong’ (1933), ‘Gojira’ was a scary cautionary tale stemming from the horrors visited upon the Japanese people in the aftermath of the nuke drops on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945; the […]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

When I first heard that the iconic Marvel character Captain America was going to get The Big Screen treatment, in the wake of the wildly successful original 2008 ‘Iron Man’, I was instantly skeptical. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I’m a proud Canadian, and don’t necessarily relate to the nauseatingly patriotic […]

The Dyatlov Pass Incident (aka The Devil’s Pass) (2013)

‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master’ (1988) ‘The Adventures of Ford Fairlane’ (1990) ‘Die Hard 2′ (1990) Cliffhanger’ (1993) What do all these awesome movies have in common? Finnish director Renny Harlin, that’s ‘what’. Harlin first caught my eye when I snuck into ‘Die Hard 2′ with a buddy (way too young, […]

300: Rise of an Empire (2014)

Back through the mists of time (2006), I traipsed out to my local ‘cheapie’ theatre to catch a cinematic adaptation of the work of celebrated comic book artist/writer Frank Miller. I was curious about this…’300’… movie, that had just slid onto theatre screens,…and was getting surprisingly admirable ‘word of mouth’. I’d never read the original […]

Robocop (2014)

The original 1987 ‘Robocop’ has a special place in my twisted heart. It was another of those flicks like ‘Die Hard’ (1988) that my sweetly naive (at the time) parents put on for ‘Family Movie Night’, and effectively shocked the shit outta Young Impressionable Me. What always stands out in my memories is the ‘buzz’ […]

The Monuments Men (2014)

The true story of ‘The Monuments Men’ is a remarkable and often overlooked slice of WW2/art history. The newly released ‘Based on a True Story’ film, sadly, falls under the ‘UNremarkable’ banner. My reaction to this film surprised me, as there were so many factors that fall into categories that I like, admire and respect. […]

Sorcerer (1977)

Over the recent Christmas Break, I was laid up with some nefarious ailment, and took the opportunity to rewatch ‘The Exorcist’ (1973). I wound up doing a comparison review about it and the abysmal insult of a sequel…but that’s a different story (See THAT review here: https://thekneejerkreaction.com/2013/12/31/the-exorcist-1973-vs-the-exorcist-ii-the-heretic-1977-an-examination/). But in embarking upon THAT lil experiment, I found […]

Lone Survivor (2013)

So, despite never having had the inclination to join the Canadian Armed Forces, I must admit to having something of a weird military fetish. I get a kick out of researching the histories, the equipment, the vehicles and the missions that various branches of various militaries have used over the last 100 or so years. […]

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Truth be told, the idea of this film didn’t exactly blow my skirt up when I got wind of it being the next, umpteenth collaboration between Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorcese. Generally anything focusing on the inner workings of the stock market is a tranquilizer to me, I just don’t care about it. Both Scorcese […]

‘The Exorcist’ (1973) vs ‘The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977): AN EXAMINATION

“What an excellent day for an exorcism.” -The demon Pazuzu So. let me paint the scene: It’s a quiet Christmas Eve. I’m stuck at home due to work and my first bout of genuine seasonal illness in nearly 10 years. I’m borderline ‘stir crazy’ from being couch-bound for seemingly days, and am not in the […]