Tag Archives: science fiction

1990: The Year of Failed Film Franchises

As far as I can tell, 1990 had more series-destroying sequels than any year before or since. And most of these sequels to popular films didn’t exactly go out on a high note, like, say, Return of the King. Most … Continue reading →

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RoboCop (1987) Is an Almost Perfectly Symmetrical Film

The Old Testament is full of examples of chiasmus, which is a figure of speech used in ancient times to emphasize balance. It lists a bunch of ideas or things and then repeats each of them in reverse order. It’s … Continue reading →

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Predator Is Surprisingly Deep for an Action Movie

Happy April Fools’ Day. I’m only half-joking when I say that the 1987 classic Predator is surprisingly deep for an action movie. It’s not exactly the kind of movie you watch hoping for a lot of subtext to analyze. Predator … Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Space Cowboys

Ten years before The Expendables came out, Space Cowboys made the idea of an old-geezers team-up movie cool. Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner came together to turn what could have been a predictable fish-out-of-water story … Continue reading →

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11 Movies That Actually Live Up to Their Hype

Hype is a necessary part of the movie industry. Theatrical film releases have to compete with home theaters, tablets, and various other means of enjoying entertainment that are more convenient than driving to a movie theater, buying an overpriced movie … Continue reading →

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It’s Time for Spider-Man to Leave New York City

Why is it that we have movies with Sylvester Stallone climbing majestic mountains in Colorado and Tom Cruise scaling the tallest building in the world in Dubai, but Spider-Man (the Wall Crawler himself) has been confined to New York City … Continue reading →

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10 Unpleasant Things That Make Perfect Character Names

It’s a new year and I’m in the mood to have some fun. I have come up with 10 words that usually have negative connotations, but they work extremely well as movie character names. Let’s go through these names and … Continue reading →

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Movie Matchups: Santa Claus: The Movie vs. Superman: The Movie

Oh, those crazy Salkinds. If you’re not a Superman fan you probably don’t have a clue who Ilya and Alexander Salkind are. Back in the ‘70s and early ‘80s they had huge aspirations for the U.S. film industry. They wanted … Continue reading →

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10 Classic Films You Probably Didn’t Know Are Based on Books

This isn’t the first time I’ve delved into film adaptations of novels. I’ve listed movies that barely resemble the books they’re based on and movies that contradict their books’ endings. This time I’ll go a little more obscure and share … Continue reading →

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10 Films (Besides Raiders of the Lost Ark) Whose Heroes Have No Effect on the Outcome of the Story

Remember when The Big Bang Theory ruined Raiders of the Lost Ark by pointing out the “glaring story problem” that the iconic hero Indiana Jones has absolutely no effect on the outcome of the story? None at all. At those … Continue reading →

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