[3] Bo Derek plays Jane to Miles O’Keefe’s mute Tarzan in Tarzan the Ape Man, a cheesy, wannabe-erotic adventure that suffers from poor craftsmanship and a confused tone. The film is directed by Bo’s husband John Derek, who is clearly determined to deliver soft-core porn with this movie. That intention is muddled by the more serious involvement of Richard Harris as Jane’s explorer father. Harris …
[1] When I heard Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, screenwriter behind Lethal Weapon) was directing and Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad) was cowriting, I thought The Predator would have the right ingredients for a successful relaunch. I don’t know to what extent studio interference played a part, but if I were Black or Dekker I would have had my name removed from this film …
[5] Gregory Peck is Captain Ahab in John Huston’s adaptation of Melville’s classic novel. Peck is reliably charismatic in the role, and the movie is at its best when it stays with him. Huston’s style is not an overly romantic one — which I think would have suited the movie better. I enjoyed the first thirty minutes the most, up through Ahab’s introduction and his …
[6] After the surprisingly fun Jurassic World, Universal was quick to crank out this passable sequel. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard return, shoe-horned into a plot that doesn’t really need them. The island that hosts the now-closed theme park is on the verge of volcanic destruction and a wealthy company is determined to rescue as many creatures from the island as possible. Or at …
[7] After the polarizing (and frankly great) The Last Jedi, and the almost insufferable Rogue One, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from another Star Wars movie. But I was excited about the casting of Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, because his performance in the Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar is one the most charismatic turns I’ve seen at the movies in many years. And …
[7] Steven Spielberg brings Ernest Cline’s book to the big screen. It’s about a dystopian future in which everyone is poor and living in squalor, so they spend most of their free time living in a big virtual game world called The Oasis. Now, I hate video games, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get into this movie, but …
[6] Somewhere in Africa, there’s a secret society hidden away by fancy technology. They have, like, a really super-strong metal there that the rest of the world wants, but the secret African people know the rest of the world will just destroy itself if it ever gets their metal, so they don’t share it. But then one of their metal weapons is found in a …
[6] Everest is the true story of a deadly 1996 expedition up Mount Everest in which two climbing parties suffered casualties after a fierce blizzard engulfed the mountain with little warning. The film is more of a dramatic biopic than a sensational survival flick, and while that’s normally a good thing, I do wish Everest were a little more suspenseful or exciting. The ensemble cast …
[8] Writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper) picks up the reigns and steers the franchise into bold, new waters with an entry that summons Star Wars fans to let go of the past and wipe the slate clean, so that something new can begin to grow. After the fan-pandering Episode VII, something new and unpredictable was exactly what I craved in a Star Wars movie. Johnson …
[7] Three orphans grow up together as brothers under the care of a kindly benefactor. When they’re old enough, they join the Foreign Legion, but their dreams of adventure are dashed when a sinister sergeant turns their first outpost into a last stand. There are shades of Gunga Din here, but it’s not nearly as carefree or uplifting as that movie. The final act is …
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