Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews

Category: Sci-Fi

  • They finally get Godzilla right, but does it really matter?

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    Godzilla – 2014 Director Gareth Edwards Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston Screenplay Max Borenstein based on Godzilla by Toho The world’s been destroyed so many times in so many worthless films that when watching the previews of Godzilla, there is a fair amount of exhaustion at the prospect of having to go through more decimation.…

  • Gravity: Beautiful, if annoying

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    Gravity – 2013 Director Alfonso Cuarón Starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris (voice) Screenplay Jonás and Alfonso Cuarón In the end, it’s not how long one lives, but the quality of life one lives.  The events that take place in the span of the film Gravity lends credence to that axiom.  If I were in the…

  • Ender’s Game: Show Don’t Tell

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    Ender’s Game – 2013 Director Gavin Hood Starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin Screenplay Gavin Hood based on the book Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card One cannot underestimate how badly I wanted for this venture to succeed.  After the heaping of vitriol the producers of the film withstood from those who felt that the book should be punished for…

  • R.I.P.D.: Because there has to be one actor that can’t succeed.

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    R.I.P.D. – 2013 Director Robert Schwentke Starring Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak Screenplay Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi based on R.I.P.D. comic by Peter M. Lenkov Could it be that Ryan Reynolds has no friends in Hollywood?  Well, I don’t know about that.  I have n0 friends in Hollywood, either.  Except for maybe Tom Bergeron, who sat next to my…

  • Oblivion: A nice, unoriginal Sci-Fi story with great visual flair

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    Oblivion – 2013 Director Joseph Kosinski Starring Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Melissa Leo, Morgan Freeman Screenplay Joseph Kosinski, Karl Gajdusek, Michael Arndt So many elements are borrowed from other sources in Oblivion, it’s remarkable that it ends up as cohesive as it is.  That the sources all derive from the more contemplative sci-fi of the 1970’s may have something to do…

  • The World’s End: Is a bit of a leap from a pub crawl

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    The World’s End Director Edgar Wright Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, Pierce Brosnan Written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg British comedy is often overrated, in the same way that France gets too much credit in the romance department.  There are three citizens of the U.K. that help bridge the gap between how funny they…

  • The Host is a monotone response to sameness

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    The Host – 2013 Director Andrew Niccol Starring Saoirse Ronan, Jake Abel, Max Irons, Frances Fisher, Chandler Canterbury, Diane Kruger, William Hurt Screenplay by Niccol, based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer An invasion force of leech-type souls has taken over the world, and in the process they have extinguished most of the human race.  These leeches…

  • Cloud Atlas: And then a bunch of stuff happened…

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    Cloud Atlas – 2012 Writers and Directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant Based on Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell If there’s one thing I learned from the time tripping global opus known…

  • Dark Skies could be more surprising

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    Dark Skies – 2013 Written and Directed by Scott Stewart Starring Keri Russell, Josh Hamilton, Dakota Goyo, Kadan Rockett, J.K. Simmons, Brian Stepanek, L.J. Benet, Annie Thurman Every aspect of Dark Skies leads to one conclusion.  It is a shame, too, because the journey towards this conclusion is faithfully executed and is quite earnest in its work.…

  • Star Trek Into Darkness: Going where they’ve gone before

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    Star Trek Into Darkness – 2013 Director J.J. Abrams Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Alice Eve, Peter Weller, Noel Clarke, Nazneen Contractor Screenplay by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof One of my favorite aspects to the Star Trek reboot (my very first…