Tag: Science Fiction

Movie Review: INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE

On By ANDREW HOPEIn Movie Reviews5 Comments

independence-day-resurgence_82FF

Maybe about the worst thing you could say about a movie back in the day – and especially a successful movie – is that the sequel went straight to video.  I always felt that was a slap in the face to the original moviemakers, none of which were generally seen around that kind of production.  It still happens: here’s a brief list!  Sometimes they go straight to Netflix or some other streaming service too.  These are mostly garbage money grabs, cashing in on a popular title after the original creators and cast have moved on.  Rarely will you see such a sequel with any of the main stars.  Independence Day: Resurgence is an odd duck.  While it isn’t a direct-to-blu-ray, it sure as hell feels like it.

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Movie Review: POD

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POD-poster

Pod, from prolific indie auteur Mickey Keating (Darling, Carnage Park) is another entry in the Cabin In The Woods subgenre, but while it lacks ambition in terms of story, that’s the perils of low budget moviemaking.  It’s more a testament to Keating’s skill and ambition as a moviemaker that he can get so much work done and with such diverse storylines that you can’t help be swayed to his side.  For me, he’s a middle of the road writer/director, but I have wondered how much growth could happen in his work if he were to be given a budget where he doesn’t have to worry about the small stuff.

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Movie Review: HARDCORE HENRY

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hardcorehenry_poster

I, like a lot of people, dismissed Hardcore Henry from the trailers as probably too gimmicky to be worthwhile, so I didn’t bother going to see it. I also couldn’t stand the title.  As well as that, I’m not much of a fan of the producer Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Wanted) – no particular reason for that other than I haven’t enjoyed the movies of his I’ve seen.  Months passed, and I had the chance to view a copy the other night.  Feeling the need for a pallet cleanser from The Killing Joke travesty, I fired it up.

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Movie Review: SELF/LESS

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selfless

You know that recent movie with Ryan Reynolds where a character is dying of cancer, but calls a mysterious phone number because it comes with a promise to save his life?  Oh no, I don’t mean that Ryan Reynolds movie (Deadpool, just in case you’ve been living under rock in 2016), I’m talking about Self/Less!  Here, Ben Kingsley (Ghandi, Iron Man 3) plays Damian Hale, the afflicted character whose cancer is the plot driver, and Reynolds is the focus of the plot from the end of act 1 onward.

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Movie Review: THE PURGE

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the-purge-poster

The Purge, written and directed by James DeMonaco, is a pretty silly premise – that for twelve hours one night of the week all crime including murder is legal (except for some notable exceptions, like some elected officials).  The movie posits that at some time in the immediate future there’s a sweeping, drastic overhaul of the US Government, so that by 2022 crime has been significantly reduced by means of this annual release of pent up negative emotions, etc.  It’s a horror movie premise that doesn’t have any root in reality whatsoever.

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