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When I planned this post, Tobe was still with us. In October, I will be exploring some other Hooper films. But my thoughts go out to Hooper’s friends and family. Set in 1985, the international space shuttle the Churchill is observing Halley’s Comet. They discover an object hidden in the tail of the comet, only to discover it is a giant spaceship. The craft is full of corpses of strange humanoid bat… Read More
First things first. You might figure this is a super-hero movie and safe for kids. Logan is a hard ‘R’ and earns it in the first five minutes. It has been known for quite some time that this was Jackman’s swan song. Seventeen years is a long time to play the same character. Just a few days ago Stewart said this was his final time playing Professor X. And Logan is, without… Read More
Green Room is one of Anton Yelchin’s final films. The story is simple. Pat and his friends are in a punk band. When their show falls through, they get a new gig in a remote club. They discover it is a Neo-Nazi bar. When they stumble upon a terrible crime, it is a fight for survival. Once things start, the film is unrelentingly intense as the band fights for survival, along with… Read More
Days of Future Past is a well loved storyline where Kitty Pryde is thrust into a future where Mutants are herded in camps, marked and in some cases killed. They are hunted by giant robots called Sentinels. And for the most part, Days of Future Past keeps these ideas. Except the film begins in the future and instead of Kitty Pryde going to the future, they send Wolverine back in time to… Read More
X-2 was how you build upon a decent movie to make a great second film creating excitement for your franchise. Annnnnnd this one is how you screw it up. It all starts with Warner Brothers deciding that their superhero films were missing a vital link to making their movies awesome. Getting the guys who made those good X-Men movies. And Bryan Singer answered their call-swayed by his love for the first two… Read More
While it had it’s flaws, X-Men was a solid enough success to warrant a sequel. X-Men 2 went into production under Singer’s guidance. You do not fix what is not broke after all. And Singer got people excited by suggesting this was going to be his Empire Strikes Back. Picking up pretty much where we left off, mutants are still feared, Magneto is in a cell of plastic, receiving visits from Professor… Read More
X-Men kind of set a template for Marvel films that they have stayed fairly close to and it has served them well. Get a director with some real film cred, and the rest will follow. X-Men is certainly proof that it is an effective approach. Really, it was the hiring of Bryan Singer (then most recognized for the Usual Suspects) that got actors to take notice. Most of the actors admitted no… Read More
Today, I am writing about the 1999 TNT television movie starring Captain Pickard, er Professor X…um…Patrick Stewart. The film opens slightly differently than the others. It opens on the day of Marley’s death. Scrooge is rather dispassionate, simply signing off on Marley’s death in the Church ledger as the only guest. He then walks the foggy streets of London. He reaches his store front, enters and we see the passage of time… Read More
