Often times time travel movies can get bogged down in particulars and more complicated ideas but “Aporia” is one of the few where there’s not so much of the focus on how, but as to the fallout. Writer-Director Jared Moshé prides himself in making “Aporia” a film that’s mainly about the consequences about time travel more than anything. “Aporia” is a fascinating and touching mix of films like “Primer,” and “Sliding Doors,” to where this version of time travel doesn’t so much reverse time, but alters the reality with it. “Aporia” offers a time travel movie that isn’t so much about altering time but about the ideas of destiny and death.
Tag Archives: Science Fiction
A Disturbance in the Force (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
When I think about it, it’s pretty shocking that no one has made a movie about “The Star Wars Holiday Special” yet. It’s an untapped corner of the “Star Wars” fandom that has remained mainly a running joke and mythical hurdle a fan must endure as a rite of passage. Director Jeremy Coon and Steve Cozak team up to deliver what is one of the breeziest, interesting and most entertaining “Star Wars” documentaries of all time. Likely to be regard as a classic fandom documentary, “A Disturbance in the Force” chronicles the making of “Star Wars” and how the pop culture climate took a fairly straight faced science fiction adventure movie and transformed it in to a disco variety show.
The Primevals (2023) [Fantasia Film Festival 2023]
Although Charles Band and his studios are mainly known for horror, Band also dabbled heavily in to action, comedy, porn, and yes, especially fantasy films. “The Primevals” in spite of its limited budget is perhaps the most complete and richly developed Charles Band backed film I’ve ever seen in the studio’s entire history. David Allen has a clear vision of what kind of adventure film and he fully realizes it in what is such a fun, inventive and vintage action adventure. With obvious influences from Harryhausen, RKO Pictures, movie serials, and the Fleischers, “The Primevals” is a damn good bit of matinee fare that I could easily myself re-watching and re-watching on VHS when I was a kid.
Fallen: The Search of a Broken Angel (2023)
I have to say I liked a lot of what director Alex Kruz brings to the table in terms of a film that’s very much about fate, and purpose, and existence. While “Fallen” can be tough to follow in its first few minutes, Kruz does manage to really catch the audience up. “Fallen” wears its influences on its sleeve, relying a lot on spirituality to punctuate what is in its core a tale about love and finding love.
Bird Box: Barcelona (2023)
Netflix’s 2018 surprise hit “Birdbox” was a pretty good movie that skated on thin ice from minute one since it was accused of aping the concept for “A Quiet Place.” But the efforts of a sequel have firmly placed it as a movie better off left as a one and done horror film. “Barcelona” is considered kind of a sequel and kind of a spin off, but in reality it’s kind of a glorified pilot. I don’t know if Netflix is planning more sequels down the road, or a TV series, but “Barcelona” feels like the first of many incoming spin offs. And it never once feels like a complete movie, but only a buffer and promise of things to come. And as a follow up to the original, it fails epically assuring I won’t be back to see how they further develop this premise.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
It’s exciting that after seven films, “Mission Impossible” still gives audiences the good old fashioned action movies that were prominent in movie theaters. Christopher McQuarrie’s treatment of the “Mission: Impossible” has never been over stylish which amplifies the old fashioned feeling of his take on Tom Cruise’s epic movie series, and I love it. There are spies, and mysteries, and chases through streets, car chases, femme fatales, a classic macguffin, and even a massive fight staged on, in, and on top of a moving train across Europe. It’s vintage adventure movie serial cinema amplified with a huge budget and some wonderful performances all around.
Vultures (2023)
Writer and Director Jacob Thompson’s “Vultures” is a short teeming with feature film potential. There isn’t a ton of exposition or extrapolation on the world he’s unfolding, but considering the limited budget, I think we get the point pretty well. Thankfully with a lot of good editing and direction we catch on almost immediately and garner a glimpse in to a pretty terrifying world.