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This year I’ve only managed to see one film at the VQFF but it’s a collection of five shorts, so that makes it feel like I’ve seen a lot more. Strong and Silent Types also could have been called Those Crazy Gay Drunks as it seemed like every other character was an alcoholic. Is there [...]

Aug 19th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

I rented Pandorum because I knew it was a “scary spaceship movie” like Event Horizon. I didn’t know any of the details about what made it scary. I liked going in without really knowing anything about it. This review contains spoilers, so skip to the last paragraph if you just want my final take on [...]

Aug 6th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

This summer has been kind of blah for movies so far but on the plus side, it makes for a happier wallet. Here are a few more reviews of what I’ve seen lately. Toy Story 3 I saw this shortly after it opened in June (blessedly, not the 3D version that asks you to mortgage [...]

Jul 20th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

Yeah, I’m reviewing a two year old album. :P R.E.M., Accelerate (2008) This is the best album R.E.M. has put out since the group became a trio with the departure of drummer Bill Berry in 1997 and a dramatic turnaround from the slow, keyboard-driven sound of their previous album, 2004′s Around the Sun. Some of [...]

Jun 6th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

Iron Man 2 is the first of the big summer releases for 2010 and has already made a zillion dollars in its opening weekend, as Box Office Mojo reports. I had not read any reviews before going in but from headlines and such the gist seemed to be “not as good as the first one”, [...]

May 9th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

This past Sunday I saw the movie House at Pacific Cinematheque, the first time I’ve been back to that theatre in many years. It was a bit muggy inside and it’s only mid-April. Perhaps it is a way for them to claim “hot movies” without having to rely on the quality of the film itself [...]

Apr 20th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

Four quickie movie reviews, one a rental, three in theaters and two of those in 3D. Ringu This is the original Japanese version of The Ring from 1998, the story of a weird videotape that, once viewed, will lead to the viewer’s horrific death exactly one week later. A reporter who comes across the story [...]

Apr 11th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

I saw Sherlock Holmes today and liked it. I knew there would be more action in it than what one might expect in a typical Holmes story but it wasn’t an action movie. Robert Downey Jr. stamps the character with his own style while still engaging in some of the classic Holmes behavior we expect [...]

Jan 5th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

I just finished Dark Delicacies II: Fear, the second collection of 20 horror short stories and it holds up nearly as well as the first volume. Most of the stories are fairly good, a few are standouts and, unfortunately, a few also fell flat. The variety is decent, ranging in subject matter from vampires (on [...]

Jan 4th, 2010 | Filed under Reviews

I saw Star Wars at the Duncan Odeon shortly after it premiered in 1977. I was 12 years old, pretty much the ideal age. I also saw it in the theater here in Vancouver when the special edition came out in 1997. I was 32 years old. I watched it again last week. What follows [...]

Dec 19th, 2009 | Filed under General, Reviews

I saw Shaun of the Dead earlier this year and loved it. I’ve just recently watched 28 Days Later and it’s odd because Shaun, though a comedy, is a more “authentic” zombie experience, inasmuch as a zombie movie can be authentic, anyway. 28 Days Later is rather grim and I enjoyed it (I find Cillian [...]

Dec 9th, 2009 | Filed under Reviews

I finally got around to seeing the Get Smart remake that came out last year. I thought it was decent as remakes go and probably more deserving than, say, Starsky & Hutch or The Dukes of Hazzard but it wasn’t nearly as good as the source material. Steve Carrell wisely chose not to do a [...]

Dec 2nd, 2009 | Filed under Reviews