Has the pop cultural marketplace become over-saturated by geek-chic? How else can you explain how a comedy from popcult satirists Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (who brought us such great send-ups as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) can take aim at sci-fi geekdom and produce something so unfunny and cliche? (Perhaps it’s the…
Category: (2.5 out of 5)
Movie #45: Sleuth
I like movies adapted from plays. Even though the action is typically very static (two actors on a single set), play-films usually offer the promise of superior dialogue. Sleuth was not only one of those films, but also a remake of a movie adaptation of a play, and the new version was written by acclaimed…
Movie #40: Under The Mountain
I can’t believe that people on the internet found Under The Mountain imaginative and fresh. It was a lame fantasy/horror adventure for tweens is what it was. Generally, I go for those kinds of Harry Potter, Golden Compass, even Lemony Snickett kind of movies, but this one was beyond-blah. Essentially, after the death of their…
Movie #24: Redbelt
I’m done with David Mamet. I loved Glengarry Glen Ross and The Spanish Prisoner so much that I kept watching his subsequent movies even though I found them boring and pointless. I wanted to give Redbelt a chance because it was a totally different kind of story (at least I thought it was). Chiwetel Ejiofor…
Movie #2: Legion
I know Legion didn’t really look that good, but it had Paul Bettany as Michael the (de-winged) archangel coming to earth to kick butt and protect a pregnant waitress from Nowheresville, USA. Her baby was going to save humankind from extinction at the hands of angels carrying out the wrath of God. Somewhere in that…
The Last Airbender – Movie Review
M. Night Shyamalan used to be one of my favourite directors. He knew just how to captivate the imagination with his storytelling; to bring a bit of wonder and fantasy to the ordinary world (even his American Express commercial capitalized on that specialty). However, his recent efforts have shown that he doesn’t really understand what…
Knowing – Movie Review
I should have listened to the voices in my own head. I saw a clever, quasi-sci-fi premise in the movie trailer, but I told myself that like others before it (See also Number 23, or The Happening), the writers will not be able to carry the premise to an interesting conclusion. Add to that Nicolas…
Fall TV 2008 (part 2)
Sorry for snoozing a bit while the new fall TV season barrels on. There are quite a number of new and returning shows to recap, so I’ll get right to it: ï¾ Smallville – The usual brand of stuff. Frankly, I have no clue where this show is going or has been for the last…
2007 Season Finales
Another television season has ended, and on some cliffs we’ve been left hanging–but nothing to make me crave next season. Alias, Battlestar, Lost, X-Files, and even Friends was always good for some major game-changing in the last episode, but this year’s shows aren’t quite stringing me along for next fall. Heroes – “How To Stop…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 