Prometheus raises a lot of questions, starting with whether or not this is really a prequel to the Alien trilogy. Let’s call it a loose prequel because there are no direct connections between this movie and the Alien movies. There are definitely a lot of echoes (prechoes?), including the self-serving super-corporation, untrustworthy androids, deadly creatures…
Category: (3.5 out of 5)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern – Capsule Book Review
All over the tents, small lights begin to flicker, as though the entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies. The waiting crowd quiets as it watches this display of illumination. Someone near you gasps. A small child claps his hands with glee at the sight. When the tents are all aglow, sparkling…
The Secret World of Arrietty – Movie Review
Studio Ghibli (like its American cousin/rival, Pixar Studios) has such a flawless reputation for producing beautiful, magical, creative, and original masterpieces of feature animation that audiences are predisposed to liking any new movie that they produce. The Secret World of Arrietty is the latest from these Japanese animation masters and for me, while it is…
Oscar Schmoscar 2012
Last year’s nominees had a few pleasant surprises that I would have regretted missing out on if not for the noms. This year, nothing really compelled me and it’s unfortunate that I didn’t find the Best Picture nominees to be much of a checklist for exploration. Even the critics don’t love them all, since Hugo…
Immortals – Movie Review
As I’ve admitted before, I am one of those super-geeks who has been a fan of all kinds of mythology since I was in primary school — so I’ve been imagining how the heroes, gods, and monsters should look on the big screen for a while. If I were to choose a director, I think…
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Movie Review
Ever since I went to the gorilla habitat at the zoo and found my eyes watering from (what I thought were) allergies, I haven’t been a big fan of apes. Nevertheless, the movie trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes looked pretty good. As a prequel to the classic sci-fi series where walking,…
Green Lantern – Movie Review
What made the character of Green Lantern so interesting to fans like myself when we were growing up? Was it his ring which could materialize anything he could imagine (albeit made of emerald green)? Was it the heroic destiny bequeathed to him by his dying alien predecessor? Was it his membership in an intergalactic police…
Scream 4 (aka Scre4m) – Movie Review
When I saw the original Scream, I was blown away. I had always been afraid of horror movies, but hype compelled me to check out this genre-buster, and I thoroughly enjoyed the way it took its “meta” so seriously. Now, three movies and 15 years later, the gang is back. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David…
Rio – Movie Review
As you might expect from an animated movie about blue macaw parrots set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival, this is a very colourful movie. The opening musical sequence features all kinds of jungle birds in a fun, catchy, follies-style production number, but unfortunately, the rest of the movie is kind of underwhelming by comparison….
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 