The Godzilla franchise has seen its shares of ups and downs since its inception in Ishirô Honda’s 1954 effects opus “Gojira,” boasting a filmography spanning 30 features and two major Hollywood adaptations, with another four currently in development (two of which are Hollywood backed). Interestingly, none were animated. Now, along with anime juggernaut Gen Urobuchi…
After two heralded breezy and finger-snapping editions, the sassy songbirds of the Barden Bellas are back for a supposedly final installment, and sad to say it is not a charm the third time around in the lame, toe-tapping Pitch Perfect 3. In 2012 movie audience giddily fell for the vocalizing vixens of “Pitch Perfect” making…
Few franchises have been as financially successful and beloved as the low budget darling that is Leigh Whannell’s “Insidious” franchise. The initial installment, “Insidious” was praised for it’s vintage, minimalist approach and boasted a $97 million dollar box office gross against a $1.5 million dollar budget. It’s balanced execution of claustrophobic cinematography and traditional jump…
In the typical Hollywood success story, a talented individual starts out in life with a full head of steam, gets a bad break, and then, with the help of a teacher or other mentor, overcomes adversity and the story ends on a note of triumph and tears. Things are not so simple, however, for Canadian…
There is a moment early in Kenneth Branagh’s intricately constructed adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit when Hercule Poirot (Branagh) stands on the deck of a ship as it leaves Istanbul. Poirot is captured center frame: The deck, the railing, the adjacent cabin and the sea itself are balanced perfectly around him. The shot is…
Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre referred to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill as an “incredibly complex, contradictory, and larger-than-life human being.” This complexity is lost, however, in Joe Wright’s (“Pan”) Darkest Hour, a look at a crucial time in British Prime Minister Churchill’s stewardship that covers the period from May 10,…
Never tell Rian Johnson the odds! The director’s efforts in Star Wars: The Last Jedi prove that science fiction fables can be the jack of all trades: Clever, entertaining and stirring. That said, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is certainly a “Star Wars” movie — it has the showy exterior, the Jedi lore and the…
