Haters be damned, Justice League is actually pretty good. I just wish it was great.
Picture Sound Extras
The theoretically-can't-miss combination of DC's legendary "trinity" of heroes — Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman — has a far greater chance of failure when two-thirds of that crew is already on difficult footing. In the rightly reviled Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, an irrational, homicidal Dark Knight (Ben Affleck) sets his sights on a mopey, defeatist Man of Steel (Henry Cavill), resulting in tedium and the sudden death of the Man of Steel. It did however introduce audiences to the new Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), who has since captivated audiences with her own solo movie and who now elevates this team tale.
Is he or isn't he? That's the question at the heart of Series 1 (2006-07) of the highly stylized British cop drama Life on Mars (later adapted for a 17-episode U.S. run). Is Detective Sam Tyler (John Simm) mad, bad, or dangerous to know - which is to say, is he delusional, disjointed, or actually in a coma imaging Manchester circa 1973?
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/500days.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>This is a story of boy meets girl, begins the wry, probing narrator of "500 Days Of Summer," and with that the film takes off at breakneck speed into a year-and-a-half of one young man's no-holds-barred love affair. Tom, the boy, still believes, even in this cynical modern world, in the notion of transforming, cosmically destined, lightning-strikes-once kind of love. Summer (Zooey Deschenel), the girl, doesn't. Not at all. But that doesn't stop Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) from going after her, again and again, like a modern Don Quixote, with all his might and courage. Suddenly, Tom is in love not just with a lovely, witty, intelligent woman - not that he minds any of that - but with the very idea of Summer, the very idea of a love that still has the power to shock the heart and stop the world. </i>
There's Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, watching helplessly as his trusty lightsaber flies out of his hand and over his shoulder. On Corus cant, we see two pieces of toast pop out of the dual seating pods of an air taxi.
The story of 10 Cloverfield Lane is revealed to the viewer slowly from the point of view of the protagonist, and the less you know upfront, the more effective this technique will be. The filmmakers agree: The trailers show little more than basic framing of the movie’s first act. Even the Blu-ray Disc menu doesn’t reveal anything, making this the rare disc that doesn’t ruin the movie’s climactic scenes before you even press Play. Describing the video and audio necessitates describing some plot elements, so before we get to that, what follows is a completely spoiler-free summary.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/10things.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>High school sophomore Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik) has two invitations to the prom and one big problem: her father (Larry Miller) won't let her go unless her antisocial older sister Kat (Julia Stiles) attends as well. Things start to look up for Bianca when Kat catches the eye of Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), who's been paid $300 by her sister's suitors (Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Andrew Keegan) to woo her.
One thing our ongoing pandemic lockdown continues to remind many of us music lovers of on a daily basis is just how much we all miss attending live concert events.
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/10000BC.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>In a remote mountain tribe 12,000 years ago, a young hunger, D'Leh (Steven Strait), has found his heart's passion—the blue-eyed Evolet (Camilla Belle). But when a band of mysterious warlords raid his village and kidnap Evolet, D'Leh leads a small group of hunters to pursue the captors to the end of the world to save her.
When the big studios have big anniversaries, they tend to make a big splash. Warner Bros. is celebrating their centennial this year and their Home Entertainment unit is commemorating the occasion with—among other retail offerings—four themed film compilations on high-definition Blu-ray, 25 titles each for an appropriate total of 100. Staring down a list price of $150 per collection, I needed to be selective with my disposable income and after some research I ultimately settled on the 100 Years of Warner Bros. Volume Four: Thrillers, Sci-Fi & Horror 25-Film Blu-ray + Digital Collection...
<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/12monkeys.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Sent back in time to save the human race, James Cole (Bruce Willis) needs to find the source of a deadly virus so that scientists from his time can create a cure. While in the past, Cole encounters psychologist Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) and mental patient Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), who may be the key player in the Army of the 12 Monkeys, a terrorist group thought to be responsible for releasing the virus. Questioning his own sanity, Cole must meld his dreams and realities to solve the puzzle in order to save the human race.
12 Years a Slave is the true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man kidnapped into slavery, the inhuman condition in which he languished for 12 years, enduring unimaginable sorrow and torment but ultimately making it out the other side, regaining his freedom. Director Steve McQueen is a fearless and unflinching filmmaker, and this film of Northup’s book is the most personal I’ve ever seen about slavery.