With (arguably, but not very) only one good movie out of the six made to that time, the Predator franchise was in considerably poor shape by the early 2020s. Although the studio wasn’t ready to give up on it yet, the next installment would skip a theatrical release and debut instead on Hulu streaming. To… Read More A Hunter Doesn’t Wait | Prey (2022) 4K Ultra HD
Apparently, neither two failed direct sequels nor two failed Alien crossovers were quite enough to keep one good Predator down. Perhaps they should have been. Even though three decades of trying to turn the Arnold Schwarzenegger 1987 action classic into a sustainable franchise had not thus far worked out, someone in the studio had what… Read More Not My Space Animal | The Predator (2018) 4K Ultra HD
Is it a smart idea to let a pair of 11-year-old twins watch the PG-13 rated Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story? In the latest episode of Film at 11, we learn the hard way exactly why parental guidance may be needed for this comedy classic. I blame the kids’ school for this one. I had… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 15 | Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
In theory, the 2010 sequel Predators was supposed to do for Predator what Aliens had done for Alien – take an originally confined premise and expand it in scope and scale, then escalate the action to a new level of intensity, potentially a different genre entirely. Sadly, what we actually got was just a rote… Read More No Hunting Like the Hunting of a Man | Predators (2010) 4K Ultra HD
At one time the record-holder as most popular movie ever made, can Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial still win over a modern 11-year-old kid watching it for the first time today? That’s the big question we address in the latest episode of the Film at 11 podcast. This week’s movie choice comes by viewer request,… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 14 | E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Released at the very end of 1993, Tombstone arrived as the first of two back-to-back movies about legendary Wild West lawman Wyatt Earp. A competing film, simply called Wyatt Earp, directed by Lawrence Kasdan and starring Kevin Costner, followed six months later in mid-1994. Much publicity was raised in the entertainment press at the time… Read More You’re a Daisy If You Do | Tombstone (1993) 4K Ultra HD
I may have made a mistake in this week’s Film at 11 podcast. I had several last-minute changes of mind about what movie to watch with my son Thomas, until I eventually settled on Jurassic Park. Mind you, this is the kid who found Gremlins a little too scary, and I thought it would be… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 13 | Jurassic Park (1993)
Having come out of film school just a couple years prior, Run Lola Run is exactly the sort of movie I wish I’d been talented and audacious enough to make myself at the time. Thrown together on a shoestring budget with more ambition and nerve than actual filmmaking resources, the movie is equal parts pulse-pounding… Read More Life’s Really Crazy Sometimes, Isn’t It? | Run Lola Run (1998) 4K Ultra HD
After the rather challenging and stressful experience of recording an entire episode with both of my 11-year-old sons, our Film at 11 podcast now returns to its regular, more manageable one-on-one format. This week, I introduce my son Joseph to Penny Marshall’s classic fantasy Big, which remains as delightful and charming today as it was… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 12 | Big (1988)
For a movie nerd who’d only recently come of age and started young adulthood at that moment, the early- to mid-1990s were a very exciting time in cinema. The independent film movement was flourishing, and even within traditional Hollywood circles, a new generation of writers and directors were rising up to make their voices heard.… Read More The Biggest Mexican I Have Ever Seen | Desperado (1995) Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD
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