War, what is it good for, the song asks. Absolutely nothing? Perhaps. But back in the 1940s, it was a nearly essential response to depose an abomination and dismantle his fear machine. American forces quickly learned that other than boots on the ground and bombs in the air, one of the best ways to win…
Tag: Steven Spielberg
A most excellent look at a personage of historical significance
Daniel Day-Lewis steals the show as the title character in Lincoln, but by all rights, the film itself could have been named Amendment XIII as the second act’s energy, as well as most of the third, is focused on the debate in the House to abolish slavery nearly leaving Lincoln as a mere witness to…
Adventureland
Every couple of years a nostalgic film of note comes along allowing the previous generation to remember their glory days of old. Director Greg Mottola provides this with Adventureland, his follow up to the comedic hit Superbad. Set smack in the late ’80s, Adventureland tells the coming-of-age tale, which such movies are ought to do,…
Welcome to Lunar Industries
Science Fiction used to be just that: fictional storytelling with an underlying, relatable theme set in a fantastic environment pseudo-grounded within the realities of science. Authors like Heinlein, Bradbury, and Dick understood and thrived in this medium, setting the tempo for the imaginations of the next generation; their film adaptations, for the most part, were…
Shear-ly a One-Joke Movie
Obviously connections between Jonathan King’s horror-comedy Black Sheep, a ridiculous little film about genetically-engineered sheep that bleat to a murderous rampage, and the early works of Peter Jackson can easily be made. After all, not since Dead Alive – or perhaps the very-underrated Frighteners – has New Zealand been the backdrop for a schlocky horror…
Black Hawk Down
You might have heard this film being described as “the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan extended into a two hour plus film” and I want you to strike that statement from the record. This is not to be treated as a Steven Spielberg conquest. Yes, the man terrified us into ever going in…
