Dennis D. McDonald’s MOVIE REVIEWS
This section contains links to my occasional movie & DVD reviews. A complete index is here.
Great popcorn movie. Really enjoyed it. Terrific visuals, interesting variations on familiar themes.
Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 10:44AM in Action, Another Time & Place, Popcorn, Post-apocalyptic, Robots, Science Fiction I really enjoyed the previous Resident Evil movie so I looked forward to this one. I decided to see it in the theater and spent the extra $4 for a 3D ticket. Was it worth it?
The new TOTAL RECALL is a fun movie. It’s nowhere near as gratuitously gory and twisted as Paul Verhoeven’s great Arnold Schwartzenneger version, but it makes up for that with performances, visuals, and pacing that match and in some cases surpass the original.
Monday, August 13, 2012 at 05:11PM in Action, Popcorn, Robots, Science Fiction THE AVENGERS is an OK piece of entertainment, I guess. Several times during the first hour I started to doze off.
What a big, fun, goofy, and exciting film this is!
How can you possibly resist a gritty and bloody post-apocalyptic alternate-history vampire movie starring Paul Bettany, Christopher Plummer, Karl Urban, and Brad (“Wormtongue”) Dourif?
I enjoyed this movie a lot but it could have been much better had more attention been devoted to character and story.
This thoroughly enjoyable 1959 classic is a childhood favorite. Viewed again recently I was pleasantly surprised to see how enjoyable it remains.
Saturday, June 11, 2011 at 06:09AM in Action, Fantasy, One of a Kind, Popcorn, Science Fiction As disaster movies go this one is pretty good. We get to know an odd group of people and wonder, of course, which will survive When The Big One Hits.
This movie is silly, prepostrous, nonsensical, and the plot has more holes than the strainer I use Sunday mornings to defrost frozen blueberries when I bake muffins. I loved it.
Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 10:24PM in Action, Fantasy, Popcorn, Ridiculous, Thriller The “invisible aliens among us” story has been done many times before. This one focuses less on wild histrionics than continually escalating terror.
Talk about no redeeming social value! But it’s great fun.
In 1957, Toho Studios released Akira Kurosawa’s epic The Hidden Fortress, a film that George Lucas has stated strongly influenced his creation of the Star Wars saga. I wasn’t paying attention. That was also the year that Toho released Inoshiro Honda’s sci-fi epic The Mysterians.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005 at 06:38PM in Action, Japanese, Popcorn, Robots, Space Travel This movie has some of the most incredible special effects I’ve ever seen. The views of the earth and disastrous weather systems viewed from space are simply gorgeous. The repeated disasters are very skillfully done and usually very scary. The surround soundtrack is spacious, effective, and loud.
Monday, October 18, 2004 at 11:15AM in Popcorn