Produced 34 years after the original, Disney’s reboot of Willow is a fair bit better than the film that inspired it. That’s something of a relief, if not exactly much of an achievement. Improvement or not, the new Willow is still a dull, derivative, and uninteresting fantasy adventure. Not every old movie deserves nostalgia. As… Read More The Fellowship of the Underwhelming | Willow (2022) Disney+ Series Premiere
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
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)
In Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind The Shape of Water (2017) steps into Alfred Hitchcock’s shoes to act as both producer and on-screen host of an anthology drama series. Following his own proclivities, the show is more overtly horror-oriented than just mystery or suspense. In addition to Alfred Hitchcock Presents,… Read More Tales from del Toro’s Dark Side | Cabinet of Curiosities (2022) Netflix Series Premiere
By this point, 25 years since its debut, I suspect that the only people who would still willingly subject themselves to Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin must fall into one of three categories: 1) Franchise completists who feel compelled to watch every entry no matter what, 2) Bad movie aficionados who revel in its awfulness,… Read More Stone Cold Awful | Batman & Robin (1997) 4K Ultra HD
Riddle me this: I was enormously popular yet everyone hates me now. I star multiple Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning actors yet every performance is terrible. I feature the so-called “world’s greatest detective” and make him look like an idiot. What am I? Why, of course we’re talking about 1995’s Batman Forever, the first of two… Read More A Riddle Wrapped Inside an Enigma | Batman Forever (1995) 4K Ultra HD
Batman Returns, the immediate sequel to the 1989 smash hit, is redeemed mainly by association with its predecessor. It’s a Batman movie directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton, one of only two. Those aspects give it a certain cachet among fans who continue to hold it in some high regard, even if, to… Read More The Cat, the Bat, and All That | Batman Returns (1992) 4K Ultra HD
Looking back to my teenage youth in the summer of 1989, I remember talking to my friends about the upcoming Batman movie with some skepticism. Hard though it may be to fathom now, comic book superhero movies were actually out of fashion at that time. Batman in particular was mostly remembered for the campy 1960s… Read More Those Wonderful Toys | Batman (1989) 4K Ultra HD
Following two previous attempts that performed acceptably at the box office but were little loved among fans of the original property, Hasbro and Paramount framed their third live-action G.I. Joe movie as a solo outing for the franchise’s most popular character. Unfortunately, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins has little in its 121-minute length recognizable as… Read More Strident Interlude | Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021) 4K Ultra HD
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