I’m tempted to say that I, Frankenstein was doomed from the get-go due to bad casting, but let me build my case before I kill the baby and toss its cinematic corpse on the pile. Really, though, who thought of pretty face Aaron Eckhart as the monster assembled from “dozens of parts from eight different corpses”? My first thought when I walked out of the theater after an afternoon 3D matinee was that I’ll never…Read More
Review: Jack the Giant Slayer
I can only imagine the early production meetings… “guys, we need a storyline that’ll let us show off some really cool new visual effects, something that everyone will know but that we can bring into the modern era.” “Okay, but it better not cost a mil to get the book rights this time.” “Okay, okay. Hey! How about Jack and the Beanstalk?” “Wait, are we talking a cartoon?” “No, live action. Big, epic, scary, in…Read More
Review: Total Recall
2012 will be remembered as the summer of visually amazing science fiction tentpole movies, with the greatest example being the extraordinarily expensive but ultimately incomprehensible Prometheus. The new film Total Recall joins this parade, with production design that is so clearly inspired by the wonderful Blade Runner exteriors, with some Fifth Element car chases and Star Wars stormtroopers tossed in for good measure, that it’s a delight to watch. Better, director Len Wiseman and his…Read More
Review: Pirate Radio
Any film that’s built around the fabulous music of the mid-1960’s starts out with one thing going for it: a great soundtrack. That Pirate Radio goes beyond that and offers up an entertaining and poignant story about the loss of innocence is what makes it a film well worth your time. There was so much rock and roll coming out of Britain in the 1960’s that it’s generally referred to as the “British Invasion”, and…Read More