2018’s “A Quiet Place” is a terrifically focused and tightly wound horror film, which uses silence interspersed with jump scares to create a thoroughly thrilling experience. How then to follow it up with a “Part II?” Writer-director John Krasinski does so by expanding the world of the first film while also maintaining the focus on…
In 1940, more than 300,000 Allied soldiers were trapped and surrounded by German forces in Dunkirk, France. It was a devastating blow and a key victory in the Battle of France; Hitler would not be stopped for five more years. However, the evacuation and rescue of the troops by British destroyers and other smaller vessels,…
Who doesn’t want a movie to start and end and basically be one big bang? More conflict (and guns) brings better drama, right? In the case of Free Fire, that axiom does not, regrettably, hold true. The film is about an arms deal that goes terribly wrong — and because it goes so very wrong,…
During World War II, many European countries occupied by Nazi Germany had resistance movements that fought against the invaders with whatever methods they could. Czechoslovakia’s resistance led to Adolf Hitler’s third in command, SS General Reinhard Heydrich and architect of the Final Solution, being stationed to Prague, where he instituted a brutal crackdown on the…
With In the Heart of the Sea, director Ron Howard, despite his Midwest Oklahoma roots, decided to be the umpteenth moviemaker to take on the epic (and almost unconquerable) tale of “Moby Dick,” Herman Melville’s world famous novel about a 100-foot white bull sperm whale that simply will not be captured. He follows such other…
Science-fiction fans are no strangers to tales of artificial intelligence, and even the average film-goer has had his share of computers gone wild. These films range from thought-provoking and thrilling (films like “The Matrix,” “2001: A Space Odyssey”) to enjoyably fun and entertaining (I’m thinking of “War Games” and “The Terminator”) to downright awful and…
It’s going to happen some day. Computers will become so advanced they will become aware. How it will happen is anyone’s guess but in Wally Pfister’s directorial debut Transcendence it happens when the consciousness of a scientist is implanted into a machine. From the trailer released this evening by Warner Bros. even with the best…
