All Posts

‘Lethal Weapon’ (1987) shouldn’t be overshadowed by ‘Die Hard’

“Lethal Weapon” (1987) introduced the masses to writer Shane Black (and his penchant for setting his films at Christmastime) and gave director Richard Donner a

READ MORE

‘Rambo: Last Blood’ shrinks the scope for a brutally efficient rescue/revenge tale (Movie review)

“Rambo: Last Blood” is an efficient, brutal, gritty and appropriate capper (if it is indeed the capper) to Sylvester Stallone’s five-film series. It poetically marks

READ MORE

‘Alita: Battle Angel’ a final blast of cyborg sci-fi for the decade

It’s hard to predict a decade’s place in history while you’re living it, but the 2010s strike me as a Gateway to the Future. So

READ MORE

‘Zap Gun’ (1967) among PKD’s most prophetic 21st century previews

Even by Philip K. Dick standards, “The Zap Gun” (1967) is particularly prophetic of the 21st century, but it’s also one of the harder novels

READ MORE

‘Good Boys’ is somehow both the raunchiest and cutest comedy of the year (Movie review)

There were many ways “Good Boys” could go wrong, from over-reliance on the shock value of tweens dropping F-bombs, to kids who can’t act, to

READ MORE

‘Roswell’ flashback: ‘Dreamwalk’ (2003) (Book review)

In “Dreamwalk” (January 2003), the sixth book of the “Roswell” tie-in series, Paul Ruditis bridges Kyle’s trauma over the death of Alex at the end

READ MORE

Hit-Girl steals the show in ‘Kick-Ass’ (2010)

“Kick-Ass” (2010) has the game pieces in place but loses the game. It’s colorful, for sure, with the green scuba-suited titular teen, the purple-haired 11-year-old

READ MORE

‘Black Christmas’ (1974) a gift to future slasher flicks

“Halloween” (1978) is often cited as the first modern slasher movie, but it didn’t emerge out of nowhere, with no influences. One of its most

READ MORE

It’s the Sixties, man, in ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Season 3

Season 3 of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon Prime) starts off in the too show-offy fashion that marks the worst excesses of writer-director Amy Sherman-Palladino.

READ MORE

Tarantino loves, lampoons motion picture industry in luscious ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ (Movie review)

Quentin Tarantino low-key makes fun of 1969-era movie- and TV-making in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.” But the production design by Barbara Ling

READ MORE