So far, major actors from three of the four Batman films that ran from 1989 to 1997 have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And their MCU roles have been the exact inverse of their original ones, villains playing heroes and a hero playing a villain. Could we see the hero of the fourth Batman film play a baddie in an upcoming MCU film? Let’s see. Continue reading
Have you ever found the answer to a question you had never thought to ask, but which explains many other questions you’ve had? I had this experience when I watched a brilliant review of Pleasantville. I had never seen a film review like this one. It cuts right to the heart of the matter and answers a dark question that had been hiding just beyond my grasp: why was I taught to feel superior to previous generations?
Watch this 35-minute video if you’d like to see what I mean. Continue reading
A mysterious probe is on a direct course for Earth, and James T. Kirk is the only thing standing in its way. He has to find a way to respond to the probe and give it what it expects to find on Earth. Meanwhile, Spock struggles to rediscover his emotional side. Am I describing Star Trek: The Motion Picture or Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home?
I propose that Star Trek IV is simply Star Trek: The Motion Picture with jokes. Let’s go through all of their similarities to see if I can prove this theory correct. Continue reading
This article is not for the squeamish. The end of 2018 was not kind to me. I was bedridden for a week in September and then spent the final week of December suffering from a number of painful maladies. I don’t resent enduring hard times and excruciating experiences. They teach me to appreciate what I have when things are going well and to not take my health and happiness for granted.
Some pains are worse than others. Plenty of films portray characters going through heartache and physical pain because that’s the way to create drama and tension. But few beat their characters down with more pain than one could possibly imagine a single person enduring. I invite you to join me as I visit eight examples of ultimate suffering in film, though I’ll be surprised if anyone can stomach it all. Continue reading
I may have discovered why Bumblebee is the first Transformers movie to not only get a fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating, but be overwhelmingly popular with critics. It does everything that was proven to be wildly successful in 1999’s The Iron Giant. Let’s go through their similarities. Continue reading
1979’s The Black Hole does just about everything right. It’s chock-full of great actors giving compelling performances. It has plenty of memorable scenes and imagery. John Barry’s score is hauntingly beautiful throughout. It offers several iconic robot designs. And it has a fantastic mystery that is resolved in the most devastating way possible.
So why do I feel so hollow every time the end credits roll?
I want to love The Black Hole, but something prevents me from doing that. For this reason, I have to ask: is The Black Hole a good movie? Let’s go through its positive and negative qualities to get to the root of the film and discover the answer to this question. Continue reading
2018 was the year I made a lot of changes to the Deja Reviewer website. I added four new review sections, a move unheard of since I created the site in 2011. Up until 2018, I had only added one other new section, Pleasant Surprises, and that was back in 2012!
Feel free to check out the articles under these new categories. I’ll add more to them in the coming months and years because I still have a lot of fun insights to share. Continue reading
Do you ever think about which movie stars your family members remind you of? I am the seventh of nine kids, so I got to witness a lot of personalities develop as we all grew up and started our own families. I’m happy to say I love my parents and all of my siblings. And when I look at them, I see many admirable traits that call back memories of actors and films I enjoy. So I am going to identify the movie stars I relate to each of my family members and explain why I chose each one.
I’m mostly writing this for my family, but I hope this will inspire everyone else to think about all of the great things they see in their own close relatives. I should note that I’m looking at my brothers and sisters and mom and dad as an outsider on their personal lives. I’m not there with them every day to judge them, and I hope none of this comes across as anything but praise of them. Continue reading
Remember that scene in Big where Josh Baskin receives his first paycheck? He’s a 12-year-old boy trapped in the body of a 30-year-old man. He has never had more than a few dollars to his name in his whole life, so when he earns what seems like a huge sum of money to him, here’s how he reacts. Continue reading
I love Die Hard. It’s practically flawless as an action movie. But I have to ask, does Die Hard have a good soundtrack? Is any of its music particularly memorable, melodic, or meaningful? No, it’s just kind of there. I would say that the soundtrack is neither good nor bad. It’s serviceable. Continue reading
