Category: Sci-Fi
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Godzilla: King of the Monsters (***) – Too much breaking stuff
“This is not a great film. It’s barely a good one. The feeling that this is just a placeholder for the real battle coming overwhelms the last half of the film. Once we see images of Kong in passing, it’s hard to guess who is going to come out on top in a film with…
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Brightburn (***) could be great, but isn’t
“The ride we’re given by the plot feels like the New York New York roller coaster ride in Las Vegas when it first came out. Harrowing, herky jerky and it feels like it is not completely safe. Did anyone test the ride ahead of time?”
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Captive State (**) is a long shot
“Wyatt and co-writer spend so much time setting up the labyrinthian plot, we are allowed little time to invest in learning much about any particular character. The end result plays more sterile than it probably should. The surprise we’re expecting is more of an obligation than a relief. ”
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Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (***1/2) Everything is Amazing but the Leads
It’s the rare film that can keep the attention of both me and my wife. Neither of us moved during the whole running time.
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The Predator (***1/2) gets chopped up
The Predator is enjoyable, but it sure is fast, hard and choppy. Many of the scenes that might help build pull the story along for the slow and dimwitted are excised in favor of seeing people get sliced in half and repeatedly skewered by those massive retractable claws. Whether it’s a fair trade or not…
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Forgotten Gem? – 2001: A Space Odyssey at 50 in IMAX
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Is this one of my favorite films? Not by a long shot. It’s Kubrick’s finest 142 minutes though, and it definitely needs to be experienced by everyone at least once. Just make sure the screen is large enough to encompass what’s great about it, and make sure your stereo dulls the piercingly high register. This…
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Ready Player One (****) Spielberg remembers how to have fun
“If you have any desire to legitimately smile at a Spielberg film for the first time in decades, see Ready Player One.”
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Annihilation (***) almost overcomes its disadvantages
For Garland, this is on par with Ex-Machina. For many, this will be seen as success. I was only mildly impressed with that movie too. So I will just wait for the next Jeff Nichols film and hope enough people notice he’s been outpacing everyone for years.
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Cloverfield Paradox (**) Good cast, wasted
The Cloverfield Paradox – 2018 Director Julius Onah Screenplay Oren Uziel Starring Daniel Brühl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo, Zhang Ziyi As a surprise drop on Netflix a few hours after the Superbowl, The Cloverfield Paradox is packed full of references to the first two films of the series. The film goes a long way to…
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Adams and Jefferson on Movies: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Another spooky classic discussed by the longtime friends, movie buffs and blowhards, WeMissE and CoolPapaE.
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 