Review – Inferno

Unlike The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, this time around I hadn’t read the source novel before seeing the movie. It didn’t seem to make much of a difference. “Harvard Symbologist” Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks again) has lost his memory. Can a beautiful European woman (Felicity Jones) help him recover it in time to thwart a maniac intent on releasing a deadly virus? Mildly amusing

Review – Shin Godzilla

This go-around is more visually interesting than it is good. I was particularly fascinated by the use of CGI to simulate the look and feel of the guys-in-rubber-suits movies of Godzilla’s past. Though this is clearly a loving attempt to recapture the spirit of the older movies in the set, the story isn’t good enough to match the effects (which, come to think of it, actually means it has something strongly in common with the kaiju of yesteryear). Mildly amusing

Review – Independence Day: Resurgence

This sequel gets rid of most of the fun from the first one, replacing it with convoluted subplots and even more elaborate effects work. To be sure, there’s no way to redo the unanticipated attack that drove the original. Once the aliens have invaded, it isn’t exactly a surprise when they invade again. This time around we’re more or less ready for them, our society having transformed in ways that make the world considerably less accessible. But if you like Jeff Goldblum, don’t mind the absence of Will Smith, and like to see stuff blowing up, this should do the trick for you. Mildly amusing

Review – A Christmas Carol (1999)

Patrick Stewart takes the lead in this traditional re-telling of the familiar tale. The IMDb notes say that Stewart has also done a one-man performance of the story on stage, during which he plays more than 40 parts. That would be interesting to see, though of course it would have deprived us of a supporting cast of familiar faces in this adaptation. Mildly amusing

Review – A Christmas Carol (1984)

This straightforward, made-for-TV version of the Dickens classic has a surprisingly impressive cast. George C. Scott takes the lead. David Warner plays Cratchitt. Just about every role is a familiar face. And yet the part that stood out in my notes was Anthony Walters’s performance as Tiny Tim. Walters had never acted onscreen before and has done little in TV or movies since. But between his vaguely demented performance and corpse-like makeup, he was quite a departure from the sweet little cherubs they usually get for the role. Mildly amusing

Review – Get Out

Jordan Peele pulls off what has proven to be an exceptionally difficult feat: evenly blending supernatural evil with real-life horror. When Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) joins his girlfriend (Allison Williams) at her parents’ place for the weekend, almost immediately there’s something amiss. The mystery unfolds at a steady pace with some clever twists and eerie moments along the way. The US movie industry tends to approach racism either in deadly, fact-based earnestness or as a joke. This movie does neither, walking the line with skill. Buy it

Review – Life (2017)

I loved Alien. I loved The Thing. But I seriously didn’t love this inept attempt to combine the two. A tiny alien life form sneaks aboard the International Space Station and rapidly mutates into a deadly menace. See if desperate

Review – Wonder Woman

After growing up with the cheerful, bright 70s-ness of the Linda Carter TV series, I was surprised by the darkness of the DCEU adaptation of the title character. To be sure, it’s hard to make a cheerful movie set during World War One. And Chris Pine brings what goofiness he can to his role as the love interest. Gal Gadot is well cast in the lead, and I was also taken with Elena Anaya’s chilling turn as one of the villains. Production values are high, expensive action sequences are plentiful, and it’s good to finally see a female protagonist in a superhero movie. Mildly amusing

Review - The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

I figured this would be more or less the same experience as the first one, but I actually didn’t like this round quite as much. The familiar characters and elements are here. But they’ve played up some of the goofier stuff, turning more than one scene into an expensive music video for cheap tunes from the 1970s. And oh so many in jokes, sub-references and other fodder for fanboys. Mildly amusing

Review - 1922

This Netflix Original most likely wasn’t ever headed for greatness, but whatever chance it might have had is thoroughly ruined by Thomas Jane. Normally I’m a big fan, but here he plays the lead like an awful blend of Billy Bob Thornton and Jim Varney. His performance significantly detracts from what would otherwise have been a mediocre story about a farmer who murders his wife and suffers the supernatural consequences. See if desperate

Review - Temple

A threadbare plot struggles to connect a parade of scares mostly borrowed from other movies. American tourists run afoul of Japanese forest demons. This plays like a low-budget indie reheat of The Forest, which of course was no great shakes either. See if desperate

Review - Iron Jawed Angels

The campaign to secure the right to vote for women in the United States gets an uneven telling from HBO. The parts that actually focus on the issues and history are fairly good. But along with it we get a big dose of soap. It really cheapens the storytelling – almost negating the picture’s better purposes. In particular, it would be easier to buy Hillary Swank as a feminist leader if we didn’t have to watch her go all goony-eyed over a man. Mildly amusing