Our Test Is Crisis | A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune (2023) Book Review

Even among fans who love it, David Lynch’s adaptation of Dune must be acknowledged as a very messy production with a terrible reputation. One of the most expensive movies ever made at the time, the result was met with critical scorn and box office disaster upon its release in late 1984. Four decades later, author… Read More Our Test Is Crisis | A Masterpiece in Disarray: David Lynch’s Dune (2023) Book Review

Hysterical Blindness | All the Light We Cannot See (2023) Netflix Limited Series

Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller novel by author Anthony Doerr, the new four-episode limited series All the Light We Cannot See is a prestige production with all the high-gloss production values a hefty Netflix budget can buy. It’s also completely ridiculous, to a frankly laughable degree. I suppose that’s what you get when you… Read More Hysterical Blindness | All the Light We Cannot See (2023) Netflix Limited Series

Who Can Spy on the Spies? | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) Blu-ray

Many of the bestselling spy novels by John le Carré have made popular fodder for film and television adaptations over the years, some more successfully than others. Often regarded among the best of them is the 1979 BBC miniseries version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Even four decades later, the show maintains a reputation as… Read More Who Can Spy on the Spies? | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) Blu-ray

Family-Friendly Fun and Cutting Edge Animatronic Technology | Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)

The Blumhouse production of Five Nights at Freddy’s turns the favorite horror-themed, point-and-click video game series of ‘tweens everywhere into a live-action fright flick. For that target audience, this may well be the movie event of the year. Everyone else will probably wonder what the fuss is about. Distributor Universal Pictures made an interesting decision… Read More Family-Friendly Fun and Cutting Edge Animatronic Technology | Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)

Know You Are Loved | Bodies (2023) Netflix Limited Series

Based on a 2014 graphic novel published by DC Vertigo, Bodies has the type of intriguing high-concept premise that feels like it almost must have been written for the express purpose of being adapted into a Netflix limited series. At least, the Netflix limited series adaptation of it sure gives that impression. Some cursory research… Read More Know You Are Loved | Bodies (2023) Netflix Limited Series

A Perfect Spy Novelist | The Pigeon Tunnel (2023) on Apple TV+

For his latest cinematic interrogation, Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris (The Fog of War) trains his cameras onto David Cornwell, better known to fans and the public at large by his pen name, John le Carré. Over a sixty-year career, the acclaimed author published dozens of hugely popular and influential novels, mostly in the espionage genre.… Read More A Perfect Spy Novelist | The Pigeon Tunnel (2023) on Apple TV+

Cybertron Will Die | Transformers Issue #01 (2023) Skybound Comic Book

Earlier this year, Robert Kirkman’s Skybound Entertainment launched a new sci-fi comic book called Void Rivals that, in a surprise twist not announced in advance, turned out to be the kick-off for a shared narrative continuity with Hasbro’s Transformers and G.I. Joe brands. The first few issues of that book featured cameo appearances by select… Read More Cybertron Will Die | Transformers Issue #01 (2023) Skybound Comic Book

Madness Is the Loftiest Intelligence | The Fall of the House of Usher (2023) Netflix Limited Series

October is the season for spooky delights, which makes it a fine time for Netflix to roll out the latest horror miniseries from producer/director Mike Flanagan. These things are getting to be nearly an annual tradition for the streamer. This year’s is The Fall of the House of Usher, based (extremely loosely) upon a mash-up… Read More Madness Is the Loftiest Intelligence | The Fall of the House of Usher (2023) Netflix Limited Series

The Final Friedkin | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023) on Showtime

The latest adaptation of the famed courtroom drama The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial arrives under the cloud of a double sadness, for the dual losses of co-star Lance Reddick and director William Friedkin, both of whom passed away in the time between the film’s completion and its premiere on the Showtime cable network. In the case… Read More The Final Friedkin | The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023) on Showtime

Scream to the Future | Totally Killer (2023) on Amazon Prime Video

If the nearly three decades since Scream have given us an abundance of meta slasher movies, including a whole bunch of sequels to Scream itself, the new Amazon film Totally Killer tries to do one better by throwing in the added twist of being a meta time travel/slasher movie. Its heroine has seen plenty of… Read More Scream to the Future | Totally Killer (2023) on Amazon Prime Video