Thank You from the Deja Reviewer

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

To all of my readers, thank you for helping to make my website such a huge success. I got my 1 millionth view and my 1,000th follower last month, and everything just keeps booming. I am amazed by what has happened this year, and what better time than Thanksgiving to take a minute to show my appreciation for all of you!

Humble Beginnings

Robert Lockard and one of his sons.I created the Deja Reviewer website in June 2011 to keep my brain from exploding. My mind never stops generating crazy ideas and odd ways of looking at films, but for years I had no way of getting those ideas out there for others to see. But after the birth of my second child, I knew something needed to change.

This website started purely as an outlet for my creativity. I just wanted to share my thoughts and see if they would resonate with anyone else. For the first three years, I had a few moderately popular articles here and there, but nothing really spectacular. Continue reading →

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10 Movies Whose Hero and Villain Never Actually Meet

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Some movies are so well-constructed, they don’t even need their hero and villain to be anywhere close to each other to create lots of suspense and conflict. They might talk with each other over the phone, but they never have a face-to-face encounter.

Let’s get right to the point and explore 10 movies whose hero and villain never actually meet! Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Always

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Always is the one Steven Spielberg film that no one ever talks about. People like to rag on 1941 as Spielberg’s one true bomb or discuss Hook’s shortcomings or Empire of the Sun’s good qualities. But no one seems to care about Always.

I watched this movie as a kid and I thought it was painfully boring. There wasn’t much to hold my interest. I rented it again last week to show to my wife and see if it was really as bad as I remembered. I’m happy to report that it is not what I expected.

Sure, it’s definitely imperfect with a lot of jokes that fail to hit their target and an overly long opening sequence. But overall the movie works surprisingly well.

Get ready to explore what worked and what didn’t in the 1989 Spielberg film, Always. Continue reading →

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10 Successful Actors Who Have Never Starred in a Sequel

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It’s nice to have a steady paycheck. Actors have a notoriously hard time hitting the big time, and even for those who do, there’s no guarantee that they’ll continue to land great roles. That’s probably why it’s so tempting to reprise roles that have worked well for them in franchises that have built-in audiences.

So it’s cool to see that some actors can have successful careers without ever starring in a sequel to one of their popular films. Some of the actors on this list did appear in a sequel/reboot in a series, but they never showed up in more than one film in that series, so they weren’t returning to a series they had helped start.

So sit back and prepare to be surprised as we showcase 10 successful actors who have never starred in a sequel to one of their popular films. Continue reading →

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Movie Matchups: Atlantis: The Lost Empire vs. Stargate

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Stargate debuted in theaters exactly 20 years ago today. It was so good that they released it again seven years later, except that time it was called Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

These movies are so closely related that it’s crazy that Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin didn’t get story credit on Atlantis or at least an “Inspired by.”

We’re going to correct this oversight today by exploring the numerous similarities between Stargate and Atlantis: The Lost Empire! Continue reading →

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‘I’ll Be Back’ Takes on New Meaning: Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s First Half Mirrors Its Second Half

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

October 26, 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the theatrical release of The Terminator. That was James Cameron’s first real directing job, and he followed it up with the even better Aliens and The Abyss. In 1991, he returned to the franchise that made him famous and produced a film that is superior to the original in just about every way.

Not only is Terminator 2: Judgment Day one of the best sequels ever made, it is also another example of Cinematic Chiasmus. Is it overkill to do two examples of this ancient storytelling technique from the same director in one month? Probably, but I don’t care because Aliens and Terminator 2 are both awesome films and they deserve the star treatment.

So let’s explore the chiasmus found in Terminator 2. Come with me if you want to give this movie a whole new meaning! Continue reading →

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10 Good Sequels That Sowed the Seeds of Their Series’ Destruction

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It’s really hard to make a good sequel to a hit movie. The filmmakers have to please fans of the first film while also adding something new to the mix to make the sequel stand on its own. But something that’s even harder to do is pull off a movie that can then have another sequel after it that’s as good as it, which leads to a successful long-term series.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan did that. So did From Russia with Love. It’s hard to think of many others.

Here are 10 sequels that, for one reason or another, introduced some element that led to serious problems for later sequels. Each of these series kept going after their second film, but their third films are almost universally considered to be inferior to the first two films in the series.

To be clear, I am not saying that the films on this list are bad. With that said, let’s start exploring 10 good sequels that sowed the seeds of their series’ destruction. Continue reading →

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Another Reason to Love Aliens – It’s a Symmetrical Film

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve heard Aliens described as a “rollercoaster” because it’s such a thrilling ride. It turns out that that metaphor is true on an entirely new level. The first and second halves of that movie closely mirror each other, creating another example of Cinematic Chiasmus.

I’ll be using the Special Edition of Aliens (not the theatrical version) for this discussion because the Special Edition has a lot of amazing scenes that add to the story, and it’s the version that James Cameron intended for audiences to see.

So let’s go to a place in the universe you shouldn’t go alone and discover the symmetrical nature of the sci-fi/action classic Aliens. Continue reading →

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Marvel’s Unique Approach to Secret Identities

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Tony Stark announces at a press conference that he is Iron Man.Marvel superheroes don’t have secret identities in the same way that we usually associate secret identities with superheroes. The Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Guardians of the Galaxy all have completely public identities. Everyone knows who they are in real life, so their superhero names are more for personal branding than anything.

Other big Marvel characters, like the X-Men, Thor, and Hulk, have more ambiguous (or even non-existent) second identities. And then there’s Spider-Man. At first glance, he seems to have the most normal secret identity, but he’s a special case, and I’ll go in depth on him in a bit.

In this article, I’ll just be talking about what we see in the movies. The comics have so many decades of competing continuities and storylines that I find it much simpler to just go off of the big-screen versions of these superheroes.

So let’s start exploring Marvel’s unique approach to its superheroes’ secret identities! Continue reading →

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The 10 Most Obscure Movies That Earned More Than $300 Million (Adjusted for Inflation)

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

This summer’s crop of big-budget movies struggled to get into true blockbuster territory in the U.S. and Canada. Domestically, only one film has managed to gross more than $300 million in 2014 – Guardians of the Galaxy, a film that seemed least likely to be this year’s breakout hit.

But grossing a ton of money doesn’t necessarily mean that a film will be forever embedded in popular culture. In fact, several films have earned more than $300 million in 2014 dollars and then fallen into relative obscurity in later years.

I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most obscure films that earned more than $300 million in adjusted dollars. Yes, most of these films had help from re-releases over the years, but these numbers are based on the number of tickets they sold, which is a great equalizer in comparing films with multiple release dates. Continue reading →

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