Considering the multitude of problems working against it, the 2023 movie version of The Flash probably should have been even more of a disaster than it was. Make no mistake, the film was one of the biggest box office failures of the summer. Combined with mixed reviews and tons of negative publicity about its star’s… Read More Not Every Problem Has a Solution | The Flash (2023)
A notorious flop in its day, the 1993 live-action movie version of Super Mario Bros. is a fascinating disaster. The film feels like it was made by people who knew nothing about video games and, specifically, never had any interest in Nintendo’s smash hit Super Mario Bros. in the first place. In a strange way,… Read More Vote Koopa | Super Mario Bros. (1993) Blu-ray
Between The Last of Us on TV and The Super Mario Bros. Movie in theaters, 2023 may have finally broken the longstanding curse against video games being adapted to film or television. Both have been enormously popular in their respective mediums. Coincidentally (maybe?), fungus plays a major role in both stories. Are audiences finally ready… Read More Everybody Loves Mushrooms | The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Once at the top of Hollywood’s A-List, by the mid-1990s director William Friedkin hadn’t made a solid box office hit in over two decades. In desperate need of (in the terms of his favorite sport) an easy lay-up, the former Oscar winner was reduced to banging out a Basic Instinct knockoff that frankly seemed beneath… Read More Money, Sex and Power | Jade (1995)
William Friedkin, who passed away last week at age 87, was a provocateur who enjoyed nothing more than to make movies that would push people’s buttons. In that regard, perhaps no project of his was more challenging than Cruising. The subject of intense criticism and controversy in its day, the film is still a hard… Read More One Day This Whole City’s Gonna Explode | Cruising (1980) Blu-ray
Although the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles phenomenon petered out in the mid-1990s after the disaster of its third live-action movie and the end of its original TV cartoon, plans for another film that would circle back to animation were discussed throughout the early 2000s. At one point, John Woo was even supposed to direct it.… Read More Man, I Love Being a Turtle! | TMNT (2007) Blu-ray
After the surprise success of the 1990 live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Chinese studio Golden Harvest rushed out a sequel to hit theater screens less than a year later, hoping to cash-in again before Turtlemania subsided. From a business perspective, that was probably a smart decision. Although nowhere near as big a blockbuster, Teenage Mutant… Read More Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go! | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)
That the 1990 live-action movie version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was such a big hit in its day still blows my mind a little, even though I actually contributed to that success by going to see it in the theater. I was 15 at the time and, to be honest about it, felt a… Read More Totally Tubular, Dude! | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Movies are an inherently sensationalized medium, and haunted house movies in particular often rely heavily upon cheap scare tactics to startle viewers into spilling their popcorn and clutching the hand of the date they brought to the theater. Subtlety is not generally a defining trait of the genre. Produced in 1961, director Jack Clayton’s The… Read More A Haunted Mansion and a Turned Screw | The Innocents (1961) Criterion Collection Blu-ray
By this point, I’m sure most people understand that the first Godzilla movie (or Gojira as originally known in Japan) from 1954 was, for all its inherent absurdity and cheese, designed and intended as something a little more thoughtful and introspective than just a schlocky giant monster fright flick. This is hardly a new observation.… Read More The Destroyer of Worlds | Godzilla (1954) Criterion Collection Blu-ray
