(Note: this capsule review is part of my farewell to the Netflix DVD service. #GetThroughMyQueue) Come on, I can’t just stop with one version of Ben-Hur, right? Unlike the mini-series from yesterday, this had been on my list for a while, though I knew it wasn’t well received. Timur Bekmambetov, of Night Watch and Day Watch fame, employs some visual panache, the script by Keith Clarke and John Ridley has some flair, and the art…
(Note: this capsule review is part of my farewell to the Netflix DVD service. #GetThroughMyQueue) Sometimes you just have a hankering for a Biblical version of The Count of Monte Cristo, so after watching the iconic ’59 version for the umpteenth time and not wanting to rewatch either the 1907 or 1925 versions, I thought, “Hey, there’s a 2010s version of the tale, right?” If you’re thinking of the 2016 big budget remake with Morgan…
(Note: this capsule review is part of my farewell to the Netflix DVD service. #GetThroughMyQueue) Admittedly a tonal shift from the last film in my queue as Paddington would doubtless point out that it would be better to put marmalade on toast rather than throw it at the screen — and his inherent politeness might make the denizens of the castle stop their machinations for a moment (though that doesn’t preclude another musical number and…
(Note: this capsule review is part of my farewell to the Netflix DVD service. #GetThroughMyQueue) The poster child for cult movies with those iconic lips on the poster… and it’s a cult movie that still has a veritable cult (plus a an enviable box office return on its original budget, considering it still plays in theaters). I like some of the songs, there’s some great comic bits, and I’ve talked ad nauseam with many of…
(Note: this capsule review is part of my farewell to the Netflix DVD service. #GetThroughMyQueue) A perfect film to kick things off because I had just watched The Three Musketeers (1973) and couldn’t see the sequel on a streaming service without paying more pistoles to somebody. Why, if I hadn’t had Netflix DVDs, I would have been forced to challenge someone to a duel. Netflix saved my honor is what I’m saying. (Or possibly saved…
The final month is upon us. DVD Netflix is going away. This departure will blow a hole in the movie-watching habits of many of us… and leave us ever more at the mercy of ephemeral licensing deals and capricious streamers, both of which may conspire to leave us without certain perfectly good films that deserve to be seen. As Beth Greenfield notes on Aol.com (yes, the irony of that article’s location is not lost on…
The Hollywood strikes continue and have no end in sight as I mentioned in my last post. So, with that “no news is bad news,” I thought I’d share some good news for this Labor Day. Now, I’m more of a Tom Swifty fan than Taylor Swift fan, but besides knowing that “girl can write a song,” I appreciate how she’s taken the “with great power comes great responsibility” challenge seriously. You see, she’s made…
We’re at the end of Summer with the start of Labor Day Weekend, we’re well over 100 days into the WGA strike, and we do have some developments since both strikes began. But before I get to that, I should cover what hasn’t changed. It’s still a puzzler as to why the companies haven’t settled considering what is being asked. AMPTP, the group representing the companies (both the traditional studios like Paramount and the streamers…
The new Babylon 5 movie is out and, since it’s not readily on any of the streaming services I subscribe to, my thrift will delay me seeing it soon. At the same time, when I do see it, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it immensely. Right in time for its release, Tor.com has re-published a wonderfully truthful article by Jennifer Giesbrecht from 2019 that goes into how Babylon 5 is great even as it is not…
Apart from contemplating whether to see any component of Barbenheimer in the theaters, I didn’t have anything I was planning to see until my kids announced they were unanimous in wanting to see the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film aka “Wait, there’s another TMNT movie?!?” This was a surprise because, to the best of my knowledge and theirs, they have not seen any previous TMNT movie. They also have not been around long enough…