Category: Sci-Fi
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Sorry To Bother You (**) Comedy + Woke = Not funny
Riley and company might create a compelling version of his story a few films from now. For now it just feels like something we’re supposed to learn, which is rarely funny.
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Timeline (*) is out of sync
This is what happens when one takes B-Level material by a good writer with a director who is kind of through with the hassle of being a director.
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Underwater (***) holds enough air
If you expect this to be a version of 10 Little Indians, you’d be right. It is handled about as well as one can imagine. It didn’t feel like a waste of time, and it made us curious enough to look up Cthulhu.
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Another Look: Galaxy Quest (***1/2) still good, almost great
If only the scriptwriters could have done more to punch up the story to match the superior acting talent, this might be a classic.
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Criterion: Metropolis(****) C-3PO and socialism
Even through it’s complicated history of interpretations, Metropolis is very much the definition of essential cinema.
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Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker (****) pulls out most of the stops
Spoiler Free Review: “This is an entertaining ride, however inconsequential. ”
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Ad Astra (**1/2) Slip Sliding Away
How do you make space pirates boring? Never let us see their faces, that’s how.
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Don’t Let Go (***) rides on pure talent
“Overall, it’s a decent enough movie for a one time through, made better with the most screen time I have seen anyone give to Williamson in years.”
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The Wandering Earth (***) is not far from Armageddon
“The producers consulted the Chinese Academy of Sciences, though what questions they asked is not immediately clear. I’d like to think I know at least as much as the average college graduate about the physical sciences, but they lost me when the Earth stopped rotating. ”
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I Am Mother (*****) the future is then
Keeping the characters to a minimum in no way diminishes the effectiveness of the story. This is dystopian future story telling at its best. It makes us think about more than the story. It makes us think about who we are and what we could be.
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 