Movies
MOVIE REVIEW: ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY In many respects, this was a more exciting and thrilling movie than the previous Star Wars: Episode VII, The Force Awakens” It was more heroic, noble, and self-sacrificing. Unencumbered by previous storylines, it was able to introduce new characters into an existing historical narrative. Often, the new…
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK BEYOND It has been now almost 50 years since Star Trek first premiered on NBC TV in September of 1966. See my history of Star Trek here. After several television series and movies we are now treated to the 13th feature film Star Trek Beyond. While this is not the best…
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MOVIE REVIEW: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Peter Jackson’s second helping — The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug — written and directed by Peter Jackson with flavoring from J.R.R. Tolkien‘s classic novel is more confident than the first helping of An Unexpected Journey. It is the #1 movie of the opening weekend, scoring 74% at…
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS [No plot spoilers] I’ll start with the bottom line: I loved it. If possible it’s better, if not as inventive as the previous movie in the reboot released in May 2009 and reviewed by me here. I’d call it the most enjoyable movie so far this year, though I may be biased…
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MOVIE REVIEW: THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Even if I had been told The Hobbit was the worst movie ever made, I still would have gone to see it. It wasn’t. But even after seeing it twice, my feelings remain mixed. In talking to friends who have been to it, reactions to the movie seem…
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MOVIE REVIEW: LES MISERABLES Go see this movie. If you’ve never seen the stage play, this is the way to catch a faithful version of it in your local cinema. If you’ve already seen the stage play, then you already know. It was more than I expected, and I had high expectations. This is…
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MOVIE REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2 [No spoilers] This weekend’s debut beat all previous records of a 3-day opening with $168.6M, surpassing even that of my previously reviewed Batman: Dark Knight. Even the midnight showing Friday morning picked up almost $44M. The Harry Potter books are quite popular, and I’ve read…
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MOVIE REVIEW: THE KING’S SPEECH A thing of grace and triumph. Here is a movie that’s already getting lots of Oscar buzz, and you know why? It deserves it. This is the best movie I’ve seen this year, or in a couple of years. It is not only deeply moving, but also beautiful to behold.…
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MOVIE REVIEW: AVATAR I’ve seen some interviews with movie producers recently, mostly Pixar, saying that all the key producers are moving to 3D. I’ve taken these words with a pillar of salt as just new ways to capture the eyeballs of price-sensitive consumers who are nervous about spending $10 a head to attend the cinema…
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MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. If you’ve already read my History of Star Trek article, this is the future…
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REVIEW: STAR TREK Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. If you’ve already read my History of Star Trek article, this is the future of the franchise, by returning…
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Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine When I read comic books in my youth, I always loved the “origin of” issues, which told me about he beginnings of my favorite super heroes. I was a big reader and collector of X-Men comics, of course, and have enjoyed the previous three movies to greater and lesser degrees.…
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