Back in the days when a proper live-action adaptation of The Lord of the Rings still seemed impossible, George Lucas (riding high off the success of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises) got together with Ron Howard (who’d done very well with Splash and Cocoon) to mount their own high-fantasy adventure copycatting the J.R.R.… Read More An Unexceptional Journey | Willow (1988)
Tim Burton finally tackles The Addams Family. That pairing feels like it was inevitable. (I bet he’d also like to do The Munsters if Rob Zombie hadn’t just sullied it.) Sadly, his new Netflix series Wednesday proves to be a case of many missed opportunities. The show has a good cast, an appealing performance from… Read More Emotion Equals Weakness | Wednesday Season 1 (2022) on Netflix
Sequels cranked out rapidly following the success of a hit movie too often fail to recapture the magic, but 1993’s Addams Family Values manages to improve upon its predecessor. The film doubles down on all the parts that worked the first time around, eliminates or fixes the parts that didn’t, and generally feels like a… Read More Let’s Not Forget Our Cheery Little Chippewas | Addams Family Values (1993)
The 1991 theatrical film adaptation of The Addams Family is, without question, a shameless example of corporate assembly line filmmaking and I.P. whoring. Somehow, it also kind of works and remains suitably entertaining even a few decades on. In industry terms, the movie was a nearly perfect package, pairing up a beloved pop culture property… Read More Do What They Wanna Do, Say What They Wanna Say | The Addams Family (1991)
Be advised that, no, 1899 is not another Yellowstone spin-off titled after a random year from a prior century, like 1883 or the upcoming 1923. Some confusion on that point may be understandable. It seems that show-runners these days have run out of ideas for what to call their TV series set in the past.… Read More What Is Lost Will Be Found | 1899 Season 1 (2022) on Netflix
Making a sequel to a beloved holiday classic that countless families have a tradition of watching every year is a tricky proprosition that rarely works out. Anyone who’s suffered through Frosty Returns can attest to that. Thankfully, HBO Max’s new A Christmas Story Christmas mostly pulls off the task. The film may not be a… Read More The Old Man Would Be Proud | A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)
Stylish, sexy, and a little bit sleazy, the Carla Gugino-led crime series Leopard Skin almost feels off-brand for Peacock, the streaming home of many mild comedies and NBC reruns. It’s also a lot of fun and I’ll take it where I can get it, though I could certainly do without all the ad breaks. The… Read More We Seem to Have a Trust Problem | Leopard Skin Season 1 (2022) on Peacock
Emily Blunt both stars in and serves as Executive Producer of Amazon Prime Video’s new Western drama series The English. While handsomely produced and gorgeously photographed, the biggest problem with the show is… well, it’s just too blunt. That little pun is not meant to say that the actress herself is the issue – though,… Read More Welcome to the Real America | The English (2022) Amazon Prime Limited Series
After more than four decades of feature film superstardom, Sylvester Stallone transitions to television for his first leading role (setting aside a few cameo appearances here or there) in an ongoing series. The crime drama Tulsa King was tailor-made – or, in this case, you might say “Taylor-made” – to suit the actor’s established screen… Read More More Than One Kind of Trouble | Tulsa King (2022) Paramount+ Series Premiere
I have long since lost count of how many times I’ve watched the 1986 animated The Transformers: The Movie in my life. A pivotal part of my childhood, I know it practically backwards and forwards, and assumed it could hold no further surprises for me. However, the chance to sit with my 8-year-old son as… Read More Such Heroic Nonsense | The Transformers: The Movie (1986) 4K Ultra HD
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