A mini-review: The Matrix Resurrections assumes that you are familiar with all the previous Matrix movies. If you haven't seen them, this movie will be meaningless to you. The movie is filled with call-backs, flash-backs, and fan service. This is absolutely deliberate on the part of the director, Lana Wachowski, because... This is the most meta and…
I went to a screening of Incredibles 2 tonight. I walked into the theater about five minutes before the scheduled start. The screen was blank. That's a bit unusual these days, but it was an IMAX screen; I figured that perhaps they didn't have any commercial fluff that was in IMAX format. The starting time of the…
This is not a review. There will be no spoilers. I had not intended to see The Last Jedi on its opening day. I anticipated the theaters would be jammed. Also, there were was a lot scheduled at work both today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday), including a #ScienceOnHudson talk and the lab's holiday party. Just as I…
I recently tweeted “Just finished watching “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Gosh, it’s dusty in here.” So here’s my list of movies at which I’m certain to tear up, no matter how many times I’ve seen them. For most, the big emotional reaction is at the end, but there are a couple of exceptions.
My take on "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" matches that of most of the reviews I've seen: this isn't the best of the series (I'd pick The Empire Strikes Back); this isn't the worst of the series (tie between The Phantom Menace and The Return of the Jedi). This is a Star Wars movie, picking up the…
As a grade-B horror comedy with well-known actors, maybe I should cut this film some slack. As someone who LARPed for 12 years, I can’t. The story of Knights of Badassdom may be new to the general public, but it’s overly familiar to any LARPer, RPG gamer, or SF fan: what if a group of role-players actually…
Quick review: I just came back from seeing STID. Without spoiling: Benedict Cumberbatch is a great actor. He has the range to portray villains: nasty villains, noble villains, tragic villains. He could be Sherlock Holmes, the Doctor, Moriarity, the Master, or Richard III. But he's not the villain for this film. That, plus plot holes you could…
I just came back from seeing the movie. I’ll get to the review, but first is the tale of my connection with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars.
A heart-warming, feel-good story about a poor-but-honest religious separatist named Anton LaVey who gets together with his friends to put on a show and save the local church. In a world where he’s treated by scorn and derided by neighbors, he rises up against injustice and…