A few years ago, John Krasinski pretty much took everyone by surprise by unleashing one of the most innovative and entertaining horror dramas of the mid-aughts. Often imitated but rarely duplicated, the “A Quiet Place” follow up was only inevitable, but it was fascinating to see if Krasinski could duplicate his original film’s success. While “A Quiet Place Part II” stumbles in a few places, the second chapter in the saga of the Abbott Family and their survival against the enigmatic monsters that consumed the world. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Science Fiction
Flight to Mars (1951): Special Edition [Blu-Ray]
Well, say what you want about “Flight to Mars” (reaching its 70th anniversary this year) but damn it, they make good on their promise in the title. There is definitely a flight to mars. It’s just a long, drawn out, monotonous, tedious flight to mars involving four boring male characters and one woman whose duties involve getting aggressively hit on by the spaceship’s captain, taking notes, and making the men coffee.
In Sp-a-a-a-a-ce!
Settlers (2021)
A family living on Mars as part of early settlers must face the elements and other humans as they attempt to have a decent life on the new planet.
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
It’s kind of ironic that the villain of the sequel to 1996’s “Space Jam” is named Al G. Rhythm, the physical manifestation of an algorithm who decides the fate of not just star Lebron James but of the Looney Tunes. “A New Legacy” (Or “Space Jam 2”) feels like it was directed not by a person, but a committee of people that followed algorithms about what was appealing to modern audiences, and what was “hip.” The film doubles as a two hour EPK for the HBO Max Streaming Service. “A New Legacy” premieres on the aforementioned streaming service (and theaters), so Warner takes full advantage of exploiting every single (repeat: every single) IP that they have at their disposal.
The Dead Zone (1983): Collector’s Edition [Blu-Ray]
Some of the best Stephen King book to screen adaptations has been television mini-series. That’s fascinating as “The Dead Zone” often feels exactly like a television mini-series. Despite David Cronenberg’s solid direction, “The Dead Zone” is often very episodic. It doesn’t have one streamlined narrative so much as it has vignettes that lead to what you could call the series finale. In retrospect after my first viewing, it’s not at all a surprise that the premise inevitably led to a television series.
River (2021)
A young woman named River goes back to her hometown following the passing of her mother. As she works through her grief and clearing her childhood home, she goes on a self-discovery journey which includes disappearing for an extended period of time and potential outside forces at play.
Black Widow (2021)
After waiting almost two years (with three delays) for “Black Widow,” there’s something poignant about its entire tone and the time of its release. With Scarlett Johansson leaving the MCU and the series moving on, “Black Widow” is a wonderful epilogue that fills in the holes about Natasha Romanoff once and for all. Natasha was always something of an enigma who we could never really make up our minds about, and the long overdue solo movie gives us the definitive look in to the life of a pretty noble heroine.