Badmouth » science fiction

The Time Traveler’s Wife

Brian McDonough — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 06:25:20 +0000

The Time Traveler’s Wife says something interesting about love. It says that the reality of love, you and that other person, working, is less important than the grand cosmic ideal of love that drives you to put up with the misery. Romantic? You'll like this film. Horse crap? Go see Harry Potter. Related posts:

Green Lantern: First Flight

John Marcotte — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:31:22 +0000

In one of DC's best animation efforts to date, Air Force test pilot Hal Jordan is chosen by the dying alien Abin Sur to be his replacement in the Green Lantern Corps. Given a powerful ring fueled by sheer willpower, Jordan finds himself able to fly, project force-fields and survive the rigors of outer space. Related posts:

Alien Trespass: Just Like the Real Thing?

Brian McDonough — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:51:05 +0000

The beauty is that Alien Trespass is not built for the mainstream. No related posts.

Watchmen

Brian McDonough — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:17:02 +0000

[rating:3.5] Director: Zack Snyder Starring: Malin Ackerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley Watchmen, the holy grail of comic book movies. Not only have reverent fans of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons opus either passionately longed for or absolutely dreaded a film adaptation, it also seems to be of high interest to the general public. Weekend box office will tell that tale). but this seems to be the first comic book movie to make a real general-public splash that’s not based on a household-name character. Maybe it’s just that from the trailers alone — hell, from the posters alone — you can tell it’s not going to suck as much as Ghost Rider. Also, it’s dark, moody, urban and sexy. That’s not a failing formula. But is the damn thing — all two hours and forty minutes of it, any good? Related posts:

Fantastic Four

Brian McDonough — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:24:42 +0000

[rating:0] Director: Lee Tamahori Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel I have seen worse movies than “Next.” I am certain of this. Give me time and I’ll be able to remember one. As a note, I sat in the screening jotting occasional observations in my notebook for the subsequent review. Halfway through, my companion seized the pad and pen from me and scribbled her own note. No one has done this before. When I got home and found the right page, it said, “This movie sucks it.” She should have this gig. Related posts:

Meet the Robinsons

Brian McDonough — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 01:28:32 +0000

[rating:4] Director: Stephen J. Anderson Starring: Angela Bassett, Daniel Hansen, Jordan Fry “Meet the Robinsons” is a light adventure story about the power of hope. In design and by design, it harks back to the ’50s-style shiny flying-car future that has mostly been replaced in science fiction by the grim and gritty worlds of “Bladerunner,” "The Matrix," “Watchmen” and “The Dark Knight Returns.” Like last autumn’s rerelease of “Nightmare Before Christmas,” the animated feature is released in 3D in many markets. The filmmakers make good use of the technology without letting it overwhelm the story needs. “Meet the Robinsons” is just fine without 3D, but see it that way if you can. The engaging, spunky movie follows Lewis, an orphan with a genius for invention that works against his desire to find a family — until he’s sucked into the future by two visiting time travelers. A time-hopping teenager recruits Lewis from a science fair because the time and place is also the destination of a mustache-twirling villain in a bowler hat who looks like the type of bad guy who tied spirited young girls to railroad tracks in the days of silent film. Along the way, you have to forgive a few kitchen-sink excesses such as singing frogs and dinosaur attacks. Related posts:

Déjà Vu

Brian McDonough — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:01:06 +0000

[rating:2] Director: Tony Scott Starring: Denzel Washintong, Paula Patton, Val Kilmer Okay … so what the hell was that? “Déjà Vu” is a slick-looking mess, an empty exercise in plot service — nothing going on in this film makes much sense, every action being driven by the need to advanced a half-baked storyline built around a premise whose nature and consequences appear never to have been really thought through. The film has stuff happening, is interesting to look at, but there’s nothing holding it together, no core logic that lets a viewer invest in any character or any action. The only note I wrote during the screening that’s worth citing here is this: “It’s like being an American watching soccer: Everyone's just running around, and I don't really care.” Related posts:

Serenity

Brian McDonough — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 02:03:28 +0000

Like Firefly, the failed-until-DVD TV series that spawned it, Serenity is destined to find its success in the home market rather than in theaters. The TV show got shafted by Fox, but found enough popularity (rabid, vocal, online popularity) to motivate Universal to greenlight a big-screen version. The film, shot on a shoestring budget, was a disappointment at the box office. But even before its release on Tuesday, the DVD for Serenity was scoring high on Amazon’s top 100, giving the show yet a third bite at the profitability apple to go along side its critical acclaim. The movie was a hard sell. It had no stars and a complex storyline, which is why it’ll find its audience on DVD — especially with a fanbase that works harder to move the product than a Girl Scout with a van full of Do-Si-Dos. And audiences should find Serenity — it’s a satisfying, multilayered adventure with great characters, plot hooks and emotional resonance. This review, for those keeping score, is going to be relatively spoiler-free. So if you’re on the fence about watching this DVD, it’s safe to come inside Related posts:

War of the Worlds

John Marcotte — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 03:21:50 +0000

Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds has a rather difficult hurdle to overcome: Why would anyone pay money to watch Operating Thetan Tom Cruise battle fake aliens on the big screen when they can watch him battle the real aliens that live in his head on live television three or four times a week? War of the Worlds is a series of technically flawless special-effects sequences held tenuously together by a disjointed plot that cannot remain true to its own roots as a character study.
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Fantastic Four

Brian McDonough — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 01:13:36 +0000

Fantastic Four falls far short of fantastic. It’s a deeply flawed movie whose troubled production history is glaringly obvious in the final cut. Yet while romantic-comedy director Tim Story is pretty much lost at sea with big action set pieces, he nails some very nice little character moments that give the movie a bit of heart. That made me like the movie despite its flaws, and the fact that the story is all origin, ending only as the heroes truly become the Fantastic Four, left me eager to see a sequel that could kick action ass in all the ways this one doesn’t. Related posts: