Hello, Dankness (2023)
The value of experimental filmmaking is in challenging [...]
Sci-Fi/Fantasty
They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
Juel Taylor’s bizarre conspiracy sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone drops onto Netflix with very little fanfare this weekend, and that’s both a blessing and a curse. It was filmed in 2020 (note that it co-stars Jamie Foxx, whose health issues were reported months ago) and made a strong showing at the American Black Film Festival […]
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
I have dozens of logistical questions with regards to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – but for the sake of time and my sanity – I’ll just focus on one: Why does the robot-gorilla have hair? I mean, 98% of his body is metal plating, but he has what looks like a crop top – […]
Fearless and Inventive: ‘Return of the Jedi’ turns 40
There is a moment early in Return of the Jedi that illustrates exactly what makes these Star Wars movies so special. Our comedy duo R2D2 and C-3PO enter the lair of the gangster Jabba the Hutt through a massive hanger door that squeaks and groans and slowly struggles to open. As they enter the dark caverns, […]
Spiderhead (2022)
Nothing thrills me like science fiction about ideas, and very little frustrates me like seeing those ideas presented in a provoking way and then run through routine action movie cliches. Such is the problem with Netflix’s Spiderhead a movie that boasts a rising young director in Joseph Kosinsky (fresh off of Top Gun: Maverick) and a […]
Obi-Wan Kenobi, the first step into a . . . larger world?
I do not step into a new Star Wars property with light feet. I’m an original fan, Class of ’77. In fact, I’m a super-fan, as is my wife. We’re crazy for this stuff. You should see our living room. The occasion of anything new always comes with a bit of excitement, and the new […]
Dual (2022)
Up to this point, I have been like many in regards to actress Karen Gillian in that I have only known her for her (as of this writing) four appearances in the MCU as Nebula, the tortured quasi-villainous sister to Gamora. Given the dark, conflicted nature of that role, I had wondered what else she […]
Black Crab (2022)
When I first saw the name Black Crab on the list of films coming to Netflix in March, my mind immediately formed an idea of what it might be. I imagined a coming-of-age story of a poor kid growing up slowing in the Louisiana bayou with memories of his Gran-Momma cookin’ up some shrimp and […]
Dune: Part One (2021)
I had no reason to ever think that anyone could bring about a film version of Frank Herbert’s “Dune” that would do justice to his work. It’s too bulky, too complicated, too over-stuffed. There are too many things that are tempting to leave out in favor of longer action scenes. It might almost seem unfilmable. […]
