First-time director Elizabeth Banks, who also plays half of the “Pitch Perfect” series’ a cappella podcasting team, and returning screenwriter Kay Cannon deliver a slick, consistently fun and foot-tapping blockbuster to follow up the surprise hit from 2012. While the original is a cute little film that sets up the rules of this fictional world […]
Watching and reviewing the classics (TV review): Television hasn’t been the same since David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” Season 1.
First episode impressions (TV review): Out of the gates, this series from Chad Hodge and M. Night Shyamalan is notably similar to other shows.
After “Infiltrator” (2001) rather leisurely explored the John-Sarah relationship, added Dieter to the brotherhood of the brave and chronicled yet another attack on Cyberdyne, “Rising Storm” (2002) raises the stakes. The second book in S.M. Stirling’s “T2” trilogy chronicles the build-up of Skynet to its point of sentience — but, somewhat surprisingly, the novel does not conclude […]
“Ex Machina” could be a stage play, as it features four actors in various austere rooms of an isolated scientific compound. Writer Alex Garland, who also penned the excellent zombie film “28 Days Later” (2002) and the love-it-or-hate-it sci-fi think piece “Sunshine” (2007), contrasts those films by keeping “Ex Machina” minimalist in his directorial debut.
Here are my 10 favorite characters of the moment on shows that recently concluded their season, are ongoing or will soon return for the summer season:
With the new ongoing Marvel comic series, not to mention the trailers for “Episode VII” and “Rebels” Season 2, drawing interest from new and casual “Star Wars” fans, I thought it’d be a good time to look back at the ongoing “Star Wars” comic titles from the now-defunct Expanded Universe (a.k.a. Legends) era of 1977-2014. […]
Here are my picks for 10 movies to check out this summer: “Maggie” (May 8) – This could be what “Cop Land” was to Sylvester Stallone years ago: The movie where critics respect Arnold Schwarzenegger’s acting performance. Or maybe not, but I already give the filmmakers credit for trying. In this mood piece, Arnold plays the […]
“The Lazarus Effect,” a horror flick that recently hit the cheap theaters, is arguably not even as good as one of the weaker Season 1 “X-Files” episodes. In that episode, titled “Lazarus,” two people switch bodies at the point of near-death, leading to a mystery that Mulder and Scully must solve in 44 minutes.
TV commentary: We reflect on how the Fox “Batman” prequel has handled its villains in Season 1.