Tag Archives: science fiction

Bill and Ted’s Symmetrical Adventure

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

In my last Cinematic Chiasmus, I demonstrated how the entire Back to the Future Trilogy follows the same pattern backwards and forwards. This time I’ll delve into another classic ‘80s time-travel movie: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Wait. A seemingly … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinematic Chiasmus | Tagged 1980s, bill and ted, bill and teds excellent adventure, chiasmus, comedy, films, fun, funny, history, humor, jokes, keanu reeves, love, movie review, movies, puns, romance, science fiction, time travel | 14 Comments

Pleasant Surprises: Robots

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Remember Robots – the most generically titled animated film until Cars came out the following year? I skipped it when it first came out because if the title was that uninspired I was sure the rest of the movie wouldn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Pleasant Surprises | Tagged animated films, comedy, films, funny, humor, movie review, movies, robin williams, robots, science fiction | 1 Comment

Great Scott! The Entire Back to the Future Trilogy Is One Big Chiasmus

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve discovered that some films follow a chiasmus formula in the way their stories are set up. What is a chiasmus? It’s an ancient writing structure in which ideas are listed in one order and then repeated in the opposite … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinematic Chiasmus | Tagged 1980s, back to the future, chiasmus, comedy, films, fun, funny, humor, movie review, movies, relationships, science fiction, sequels | 87 Comments

10 Amazing ’80s Directors Who Lost Their Mojo in the ’90s

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It’s not always easy for directors to make the transition from one decade to the next. For every Steven Spielberg there are several Francis Ford Coppolas. Filmgoers’ expectations change, technology improves, and the industry moves in a new direction. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged 1980s, 1990s, action movies, comedy, directors, films, fun, funny, humor, john badham, john carpenter, john g avildsen, john hughes, john landis, john mctiernan, jokes, lawrence kasdan, mel brooks, movie review, movies, movies based on books, puns, richard donner, roland joffe, science fiction, sequels, star wars, superman | 11 Comments

9 Iconic Performances That Weren’t Even Nominated But Should Have Won Oscars

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

The Academy Awards seem so arbitrary to me. Sometimes they completely forget to acknowledge performances that turn out to be iconic genre changers in retrospect. Here are nine particularly egregious examples of actors who should have not only been nominated … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged academy awards, actors, animated films, back to the future, beauty and the beast, characters, christopher reeve, disney, et the extra terrestrial, films, james dean, jim carrey, movies, oscars, robocop, science fiction, star trek, superman, the truman show, tombstone, val kilmer | 12 Comments

Bad Movies with Great Music: Explorers

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

What were the makers of Explorers thinking? Few movies have such lofty aspirations and yet such disastrous outcomes as this one. Explorers feels sort of like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial or Super 8 except without the compelling stories of those films. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bad Movies with Great Music | Tagged 1980s, comedy, films, humor, movie review, movies, music, parody, science fiction, soundtrack | 7 Comments

The Remarkable Symmetry of the Original Superman: The Movie

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

This is my third cinematic chiasmus. The first time, I noticed 17 parallel scenes in the first and second halves of 1987’s RoboCop. The second time, I pointed out 26 parallel scenes in The Empire Strikes Back. This time, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinematic Chiasmus | Tagged action movies, chiasmus, comic books, films, movie review, movies, science fiction, superman | 38 Comments

8 Timeless Yet Dated Classic Films

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Some movies, such as Star Wars, try to be as timeless as possible in their music, costumes, and sets. That way, they can be enjoyed by audiences for generation after generation and never get old. Other films aim for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged classic films, et the extra terrestrial, films, gattaca, goldfinger, james bond, karate kid, movie review, movies, planet of the apes, rocky, science fiction, the ten commandments, timeless films | 2 Comments

Thanks to Days of Future Past, X-Men Is Finally the Series It Always Deserved to Be

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I saw X-Men: Days of Future Past this weekend, and I can’t help feeling that this is what the X-Men series was always meant to be. All of the series’ strengths are on display here and almost none of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged action movies, batman, bryan singer, comic books, films, movie review, movies, movies based on books, science fiction, sequels, star trek, superman, wolverine, x-men | 9 Comments

The Empire Strikes Back Is a Perfectly Symmetrical Film

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Anakin Skywalker was prophesied to bring balance to the Force, and it looks like he did in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. This film, which many hail as the best of the original trilogy, is an example of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinematic Chiasmus | Tagged 1980s, action movies, chiasmus, films, fun, george lucas, movie review, movies, science fiction, sequels, star wars | 57 Comments