Thor: The Dark World (2013)
[3] Movies like this bring out the valley girl in me. So, like, I just don't give a shit about Thor, okay? Watching a bunch of thee-and-thou types running around in nightgowns and armor is just silly, you know? And…
Legend (1985)
[8]
Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien) directs this lavishly mounted fantasy film that’s high on style but low on action. The sets are jaw-dropping, whether it’s the huge, scintillating fairy forest or the fiery underground dungeons of hell. Makeup artist Rob Bottin (The Howling, The Thing) showcases some spectacular Oscar-nominated work. Just look at Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show‘s Dr. Frank-N-Furter) as Darkness, in his head-to-toe prosthetic makeup, red skin, cloven hooves, and immense black horns. It’s one of the most breathtaking achievements in the history of movie makeup.
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
[5] Eternal opportunist Roger Corman piggy-backs on the success of Star Wars with this low-budget space adventure about a young man who assembles a rag-tag team of mercenaries to protect his people when another race threatens enslavement. Battle Beyond the…
Thunder Rock (1942)
[6] Part ghost story, part wartime propaganda flick, this heady British production is truly an unusual find. Michael Redgrave plays an American lighthouse keeper who has withdrawn from the world. Having lost all faith in humanity, especially in light of…
Ladyhawke (1985)
[7] Two lovers are bewitched by a jealous Bishop -- the man (Rutger Hauer) is transformed into a wolf by night, the woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a hawk by day. They only see each other in human form for a…
Labyrinth (1986)
[8] After impulsively wishing her baby brother away, a teenaged girl must brave a dangerous labyrinth and rescue the tot from a nefarious Goblin King in Labyrinth, the product of a bizarre but winning combination of creative talents. Director Jim…
Death Takes a Holiday (1934)
[5] I love the concept, but Death Takes a Holiday has a hard time overcoming the theatricality of its source material, a stage play by Alberto Casella. The sets are extravagant and the visual effects used to depict Death are…
Dreamscape (1984)
[4] At a government facility where psychics can enter people's dreams, a wave of deadly nightmares begins claiming lives. Once the President of the United States is affected, two psychics square off -- one wanting to save the president, and…
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
[4]
Director Chris Columbus hacks his own Harry Potter films with this knockoff that substitutes wizards with Greek Gods, Quidditch with swordplay, and Hogwarts for a corny renaissance festival in the woods. Young star Logan Lerman, the illegitimate son of Justin Bieber and Zac Efron, strikes a nice pose but lacks charisma. The only actors who leave an impression are Brandon T. Jackson as Percy’s half-goat sidekick and Uma Thurman as a Gloria Swanson-esque Medusa. The script moves at a punishing pace, attempting (and failing) to short-shrift its first act and opting to steer clear of any and all grace notes, even when Percy’s mother is seemingly killed before his eyes. The second act is stuck in an episodic quest for magic pearls, and the third act spirals into a cloying, emotionally hollow father/son moment.
Pacific Rim (2013)
[8]
Pacific Rim is good, dumb summer fun. It’s beautiful, sexy, exciting, funny, and it kinda made me feel like a kid again. The premise involves Kaiju and Jägers… scratch that. Let’s call it like it is: this movie is about big fucking robots fighting big fucking monsters. The monsters come from another dimension, entering our world from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The robots, each manned by two psychically linked people (often blood relatives), are humanity’s last hope for survival. The concept sounds like the germ of another big, loud, stupid summer movie — you know, the kind Michael Bay makes. But director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) handily beats Bay at his own game with Pacific Rim, imbuing the film with more style and substance than any of Bay’s Transformers movies ever had.