H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds (2005) Movie Review

David Latt’s “H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds” (note the inclusion of the “H.G. Wells”) is not to be confused with the Steven Spielberg mega budget “War of the Worlds” (note the lack of inclusion of “H.G. Wells”), or even the British “War...

June 28th, 2005 | Read More

Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005) Movie Review

The most consequential moments in “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” for those already familiar with how the movie will end is its final 10 minutes, when the film deftly bridges the three prequels with the three originals. Before that, however, “Sith” is two hours plus of non-stop...

May 25th, 2005 | Read More

The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Shari ) Well, Earth is destroyed, but luckily guy-next-door Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) is best friends with an alien named Ford Prefect (Mos Def, “The Woodsman”), who saves Arthur’s life by thumbing a lift on the ginormous spaceship which has just played a rather...

May 23rd, 2005 | Read More

Sci-Fighter (aka X-Treme Fighter, 2004) Movie Review

It’s really quite amazing how a movie like “Sci-Fighter” managed to get made in 2004, much less found its way to an audience via a DVD release in mid-2005. The film is hopelessly anachronistic, from its stars — a who’s who of ’90s B-movie action stars, including Don...

May 21st, 2005 | Read More

The Puppet Masters (1994) Movie Review

I liked “The Puppet Masters” when I first saw it many moons ago, while still at the age where the word “impressionable” can reasonably be used. But time has ways of shedding light on a movie’s problems, and 10 years later, Stuart Orme’s film isn’t quite as good...

March 22nd, 2005 | Read More

The Forgotten (2004) Movie Review

The Forgotten” is a hard film to review, in much the same way that it is hard to properly articulate the feelings brought about by an extended bout of vomiting. This is Hollywood at its worst, a lame, by the numbers retread of a dozen better films and infinitely more inventive episodes of “The...

December 7th, 2004 | Read More

Dracula 3000 (2004) Movie Review

There are bad movies, and then there is “‘Dracula 3000″, a science fiction/horror/unintentional comedy (or is it?) set in the year 3000, where people are flying around in spaceships, but wheelchairs still look like they were stolen from someone’s yard sale circa 1990. Also, spaceships...

November 28th, 2004 | Read More

Nothing (2003) Movie Review

If there’s one thing about Canadian filmmaker Vincenzo Natali that you can take to the bank, it’s that the guy really, really likes to make movies that challenge him as a director. No one gets better mileage out of so little than Natali, who has done wonders with the resource-challenged “Cube”,...

November 13th, 2004 | Read More

Immortel ad vitam (aka Immortal, 2004) Movie Review

It seems like 2004 will be known as ‘The Year of the Virtual Movie Set.’ “Immortel” is one of four films that are garnering notice this year for being almost entirely filmed on blue/green screen with the majority of the on-screen visuals added digitally in post production (the...

October 30th, 2004 | Read More

I, Robot (2004) Movie Review

You have to wonder why Hollywood decided to make a movie from something as famous and cherished as Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot”. Then again, considering that director Alex Proyas (“Dark City”) has made nothing even remotely resembling Asimov’s novel, that question is...

October 2nd, 2004 | Read More

Hardware (1990) Movie Review

One of the bleakest, most inventive, and nihilistic films of the 1990s was barely noticed when it was first released, but thanks to cable and video rentals, “Hardware” has slowly gained a following that has earned it cult status. Deservedly so, for “Hardware” is a dark and daring...

September 25th, 2004 | Read More

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Bill Paterson) Hey, folks use computers to simulate lots of aspects of real life — sex, gambling, and all that important stuff. So, what the hell, why not fabricate the backdrop of an entire movie? That’s exactly what director Kerry Conran has done with “Sky Captain...

September 21st, 2004 | Read More

Star Wars 6: Return of the Jedi (1983) Movie Review

Of the three original trilogies, “Return of the Jedi” has always been considered acceptable, but not overly good. Made in 1983, just three years after the superlative “Empire Strikes Back”, the final installment in George Lucas’ space adventure ends with a whimper. The film...

September 18th, 2004 | Read More

Star Wars 5: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Movie Review

The first thing you notice about “The Empire Strikes Back” is just how sophisticated everything is. From the direction right down to the smallest props, “Empire” marks a giant leap in narrative as well as technology. No surprise, considering the mammoth success of 1977’s...

September 16th, 2004 | Read More

Star Wars 4: A New Hope (1977) Movie Review

At the risk of offending every fanboy across the globe, let me just say that I liked “Star Wars” when I first saw it, when I was in middle school ages ago. Having said that, I’m one of the few who has never really considered “Star Wars” to be a great film, as even then I...

September 14th, 2004 | Read More

Star Wars: The Dark Redemption (1999) Movie Review

For fans who can’t wait for next year’s “Episode III”, this fan-made offering should help tide them over for the next several months. While not on par with the official films, “Star Wars: The Dark Redemption” is well done and more ambitious than most amateur fan films....

September 7th, 2004 | Read More

The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) Movie Review

Most people barely remember this offering, which aired back in November of 1978 and was never repeated again. There’s a reason for it being kept under wraps, mostly because it wasn’t exactly “Star Wars”‘ finest hour and proved to be a colossal embarrassment to the fledgling...

August 31st, 2004 | Read More

Alien vs Predator (2004) Movie Review

For the sake of brevity, I won’t regurgitate the plot of “Alien Vs Predator” too much. The story itself is simple enough: Predators trick humans to a pyramid in the Antarctica to be “impregnated” by a captured Queen Alien; at said pyramid, three Predators arrive for the...

August 16th, 2004 | Read More

Highlander 2: Special Edition (1991) Movie Review

Despite being a mediocre sequel released over 13 years ago, “Highlander II” keeps rearing its head, this time with a new version that really isn’t much of an improvement on the original. After a theatrical version, a European cut, and a director’s cut, it’s dawned on Lions...

August 4th, 2004 | Read More

Elevated (1997) Movie Review

Canadian filmmaker Vincenzo Natali burst onto the movie scene with the release of “Cube”, but has since moved onto bigger (although not necessarily better) things ala the big-budgeted “Cypher”. “Elevated” is a 1997 short film by Natali, running 20 minutes total, with...

July 9th, 2004 | Read More