Entertainment companies and movie studios are known for “creative bookkeeping” which allows them to claim that incredibly successful TV and movie properties never turn a profit. This rather unfair practice denies royalties to many of the creative people who worked on said…
Category: Movies
Movies, Neglected Cinema
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant… except a good movie
Thanksgiving time. It’s about families, food, and football. And for me, it’s also about movies. It’s a great time to take a day off and fest on some films, either blu-rays from my “view” pile or releases that I have…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
The movie Rollercoaster brings terrorism to America’s theme parks
I love theme parks… but I don’t ride rollercoasters. There’s a lot of reasons… I don’t like heights, I’m not a thrill-seeker… but one of the main reasons is because, at the age of 10 years old, I watched the…
Geek, Movies, Trek
So, I wrote this article for TrekMovie…
It’s been a very interesting couple of weeks. When I wrote the editorial “Star Trek is Broken” for TrekMovie, I was expressing the opinion that many fans I knew had expressed to me – that Star Trek Into Darkness may…
Movies, My Quora answers, Orson Welles
Which is the better movie, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane or Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo?
A question on Quora I just had to respond to and answer, as I have seen both films numerous times and I love both… When you try and answer this qestion, you need to realize that better or best are…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
They Might be Giants is an underrated gem (and not just the name of a band)
I’m an unabashed fan of the work of Arthur Conan Doyle and his most famous creation, Sherlock Holmes. I think Holmes is one of the most exceptional characters in all fiction, and the fact that Holmes has been reinterpreted and…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
The Car is an unlikely (and failed) Jaws ripoff
When Jaws exploded in theaters in 1975, it started the summer blockbuster – for better or worse. It also spurred the creation of a series of ripoff films, to try and take advantage of Jaws’ success: The Deep, Orca, Barracuda,…
Geek, Movies, Neglected Cinema
Starcrash is cheesy sci-fi that is far from intellectual stimulation
Marjoe Gortner! Caroline Munro! David Hasselhoff! It’s a cavalcade of stars! OK, so it’s not an academy award-winning cast… or even close. These… exceptional performers are the featured players in Starcrash, a 1978 sci-fi film produced in Italy. Clearly intended…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
“if….” introduces the world to the brilliant Malcolm McDowell
In the mood for a dark meditation on the class system in 1960s English boarding schools? Then I’ve got the film for you! “if….” is the name of the 1968 film that introduced the world to the actor Malcolm McDowell.…
Geek, Movies, Trek
Star Trek, after Darkness: What is next from the franchise?
A “cross-post” from http://trekmovie.com: Star Trek Into Darkness opened domestically and internationally late Spring and has earned over (as per July 7th) $443 million dollars. This is a success for Paramount, albeit a modest one. “Modest?” You may be thinking, “How…
Geek, Movies, Neglected Cinema
Rainn Wilson is impressive in Super, an eccentric take on the superhero film
James Gunn is one messed-up dude. If you didn’t know that already, based on his previous body of work (Slither, The Specials), you need to watch the brilliant and disturbing film Super, starring Rainn Wilson. It is… dark. Very dark.…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
Colossus: The Forbin Project is Mad Men for technophobes
I remember first watching Colossus: The Forbin Project during the formative phase of my early geek years. Back then, I looked for every and all sci-fi TV show and movie to watch. Space: 1999, Silent Running, Planet of the Apes……
Geek, Movies
Blockbuster fatigue: Why I’m giving up on summer movies and movie theaters
Summer is upon us… the time of year where beaches are packed, the kids are out of school and Hollywood cranks out blockbuster after blockbuster to entertain the masses. I can’t remember a summer that didn’t have at least one…
Movies, Neglected Cinema
Battle Beyond the Stars is a Star Wars knock-off that’s hardly worth revisiting
I was playing with a new outdoor projector setup and was looking through Netflix to test it out. What movie could I use to run it through its paces? What film had a great variety in shot selection that would…
Geek, Movies, Neglected Cinema
Outland is a western in space that surprises and entertains
One of the things I dislike about recent movies has been the rise of the “High Concept” film, movies that with a simple one-sentence premise that appeal to the lowest common denominator. You get generic movies that doesn’t surprise or…
Geek, Movies, Neglected Cinema
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century tried to be James Bond in space… and failed
When I was a wee lad, I obsessively consumed any sci-fi movies and TV shows I could find and watch. The 70s and 80s was a great time for genre television, with lots of different shows: Wonder Woman, Six Million…