History

Crichton takes new track in ‘Great Train Robbery’ (1975)

After two bestselling techno-thrillers, “The Andromeda Strain” and “The Terminal Man,” Michael Crichton could’ve branded himself strictly as the master of that genre. Perhaps his

READ MORE

Allen gets mileage out of one joke in ‘Zelig’ (1983)

“Zelig” (1983) initially seems to be a case of one joke – that Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen) has chameleon abilities that allow him to blend

READ MORE

‘Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy’ (1982) an amusing riff

“A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” (1982) is a good example of how Woody Allen’s B-game is better than most writer-directors’ B-game, but it also makes

READ MORE

‘Love and Death’ (1975) skewers Russian tragedies

Appearing to be dour and grim in the fashion of Russian tragedies, “Love and Death” (1975) wasn’t at the top of my stack of Woody

READ MORE

‘Cities of Gold’ (1992), ‘Talking to the Ground’ (1995) explore West

Douglas Preston, whose book career began with 1986’s “Dinosaurs in the Attic,” makes a leap in writing quality and, more strikingly, the lengths he will

READ MORE

‘Hannibal Rising’ (2007) elegantly tells backstory

To mark the 40th anniversary of author Thomas Harris’ invention of Hannibal Lecter and the 30th anniversary of “The Silence of the Lambs” – the

READ MORE

‘Dinosaurs in the Attic’ (1986) a virtual museum tour

Although he didn’t know it at the time, Douglas Preston’s nonfiction book “Dinosaurs in the Attic: An Excursion into the American Museum of Natural History”

READ MORE

‘Professor Marston’ (2017) tells of Wonder Woman’s inspirations

The creation stories of the three biggest DC heroes all have a notable amount of injustice behind them. “Superman’s” Siegel and Shuster and “Batman’s” Bill

READ MORE

Hughes’ screenwriting career ends with ‘Reach the Rock’ (1998), ‘Just Visiting’ (2001)

John Hughes’ wholly original works tended to be better than his sequels, remakes and adaptations, and the last two films of his screenwriting career sharply

READ MORE

‘Hannibal Rising’ (2006) makes Lecter sympathetic

To mark the 40th anniversary of author Thomas Harris’ invention of Hannibal Lecter and the 30th anniversary of “The Silence of the Lambs” – the

READ MORE