“Everything they built will fall; and from the ashes of their world we will build a better one.” — En Saben Nuh So, what did we all learn from the newest installment of the 20th Century Fox X-Men franchise (the eighth to be exact, or sixth if we eliminate the two Wolverine offshoots, or ninth…
Climate change’s main drivers coincide with the main drivers of economic growth. We cannot have both, it seems. We do not get to preserve the Earth if we get to develop our economic prosperity in it. This is a dichotomy in all its height, an ill-conceived binary that produces nothing but contradiction and conflict, a…
No one has been a bigger critic of films based on video games than this author, but on the other hand, no one is as appreciative of a decent product than him, as well. And while Angry Birds (directed by Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly, both longtime graphic artists, but each making their directorial debuts)…
There’s a scene in Bite in which a young man, frustrated by the actions of his bride to be, takes a gulp of whiskey, stares into the mirror, and then smashes the glass against the wall in angst-filled rage. The man’s anger is not misplaced, because his betrothed appears to be getting cold feet, which…
Writer/director Shane Black certainly knows how to make a good buddy-cop movie. He chalked a first Hollywood kill with 1987’s “Lethal Weapon,” the tale of two trigger-happy LAPD detectives, now considered a cornerstone of the cannon. His partner on that project was producer (now super-producer) Joel Silver, with the pair continuing to collaborate in the…
Choice. Consequence. Color. Cats. These and more make up the palate of Welcome to Happiness, a quirky and charming fable from debut writer-director Oliver Thompson. Blending Wes Anderson-esque quirkiness with a light spiritual touch, Welcome to Happiness uses bright visuals, a likable cast and delightful music to weave its tale about the choices we make,…
What’s the square root of a relationship? I’m no math master, but the enjoyable Sam Cooke soothingly answers this in a way with his hit song “Wonderful World” with the lyric: “. . . But I do know one and one is two.” And without two, it’s just you. Sure, singleness has its self-sufficient and…
