I love a good, plot-twisty spy thriller. Sadly, The Double was poorly-scripted and poorly-planned. I was surprised to learn that Michael Brandt, the writer-director of this movie, also wrote the screenplay for Wanted, but then I remembered that the weakest part of that movie was the plot. In this movie, Richard Gere plays a retired…
Category: (3 out of 5)
Movie #25: Cowboys & Aliens
I’ve never been a fan of westerns (they are my second-least favourite genre, next to mob movies). However, when I heard about this western-sci-fi mash-up, I was intrigued. When I learned that Daniel Craig was going to star as the mysterious lead character, I was downright excited. Like many westerns (not that I’m any kind…
Movie #18: The Young Victoria
Even though I enjoy movies about British royalty, and I studied some history in university, I can’t say that I know much about Queen Victoria’s life. Unfortunately, after watching The Young Victoria, I still don’t. It wasn’t that there were historical details missing, but it was difficult to follow who the characters were, or what…
Movie #13: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
How capable are you at suspending disbelief? If you plan on enjoying Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (and you’re over 10 years old), you’d better be a disbelief-suspending guru! This movie is clearly a family adventure thrill-ride, but if I started listing all the logical inconsistencies and un-buyable nonsense in it, I might not be…
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – Movie Review
It’s not really until I watched this movie did I consider how ridiculous a premise this was: President Abraham Lincoln as a secret vampire hunter. It sounds like a spoof or something silly for Halloween (maybe a segment from The Simpsons latest “Treehouse of Horror” episode). However, this movie isn’t tongue-in-cheek. Except for some vampire…
Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson – Book Review
Do you often feel like computers have it in for you? Do you fear that the more technology advances, the more it’s going to take over our lives? I don’t really share those sentiments, but after reading Daniel H. Wilson’s novel Robopocalypse, I did start to look at all the gadgetry in my daily life…
50 Movies, 1 Summer — Movie #1: Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1
Well, I’ve been lax in my movie watching again. Either I just haven’t gotten out to the movies enough or I’ve been kept away by too many mediocre reviews, but I have built up a huge backlog in my movie watch list. So, I figure that I’ll try again (like I did two summers ago)…
Kraken by China Mieville – Capsule Book Review
A literate novel about odd, cleverly-conceived cults who worship ancient gods and primal forces; a magical reality right under our noses (set in London, no less!); an epic end-of-days scope worthy of Joss Whedon; not to mention a squad of occult police officers — these are all the crazy elements that I’d love in a…
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…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 