Showing Tag: " adventure" (Show all posts)

REVIEW: With A Spinosaurus, A Pterodactyl, & Kirby Enterprises, Jurassic Park III Crashes & Burns Returning to Isla Sorna

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, January 20, 2015, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Jurassic Park III

Directed By: Joe Johnston

Starring: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan, and Michael Jeter

The hardest reality for a Hollywood studio executive to face is that some of the best movies don't require sequels. Some of the finest in blockbuster cinema include those films that remain untarnished by needless follow-ups. These films stand on their own. Though there are few films that meet this standard anymore, they do exist. The quintessential...
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REVIEW: When Life Finds a Way on Lost World Isla Sorna, InGen Takes Jurassic Park to San Diego Forgetting the Parental Instincts of a T-Rex

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, January 18, 2015, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Directed By: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn, Arliss Howard, Richard Schiff, and Richard Attenborough

Life will find a way. That's always been one of my favorite movie quotes because it resonates with so much of what we know about evolution and how species rise and fall in our ecosystem. Jurassic Park will forever be a classic that puts the Darwinian notion of survival of the fittest to the ultimate test o...
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REVIEW: At a Bus Stop, Forrest Gump Tells People How He's Run Through Football Fields, Vietnam, & the Shrimp Boating Business All For Jenny

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, September 13, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Forrest Gump

Directed By: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field

"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, sauté it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwic...
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REVIEW: Drinking No Coffee, Fumbling Dumplings, & Fleeing the Red Knight, Janitor of God Parry Helps The Fisher King Jack Lucas Find the Holy Grail

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, September 11, 2014, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

The Fisher King

Directed By: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer, and Michael Jeter

Like many, I'm revisiting the filmography of Robin Williams as we close out the summer. With this in mind, I'm sure those of you who follow me have picked up on a pattern. I'm tackling Williams' more dramatic turns on the big screen. While I love him as a comedian, it's his comedic charms that make him such a standout in a dramatic setting. He was able to chann...

REVIEW: With Aliens, Rubik's Cubes, and Operation Walking Distance, Super 8 is One Cool Throwback Sci-Fi Flick

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, May 3, 2014, In : 0.00% Water

Super 8

Directed By: J. J. Abrams

Starring: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, and Ron Eldard

The Internet is abuzz with talk about the casting for J.J. Abrams's Star Wars: Episode VII. Expectedly, some Trekkies are still discontent with the fact that Abrams turned to the dark side by ditching the Star Trek franchise and are once again ranting on the web to make their voices heard. In between Abrams's jobs of living long and prospering and letting the force ...
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REVIEW: Born Under Unusual Circumstances & Getting Younger by the Day, Benjamin Button Is Fated to Forever Be a Curious Case

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, November 24, 2013, In : 0.00% Water

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Directed By: David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, Julia Ormond, Jason Flemyng, Elias Koteas, Tilda Swinton, and Jared Harris

“For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you ...
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REVIEW: Why the World Doesn't Need Superman Returns

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 1, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Superman Returns

Directed By: Bryan Singer

Starring: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden, Frank Langella, Eva Marie Saint, Parker Posey, Kal Penn, Sam Huntington, and Kevin Spacey

Before we entered this era of filmmaking where studios reboot a franchise at the drop of a hat, studios opted to keep franchises alive forever and ever. There are countless examples of this. Look at the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street series, kept alive through the 1980s, the 1990s, and most of th...
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REVIEW: The Quest for Peace is the Quest to Take Superman to New Lows Entering the Nuclear Arms Race

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 1, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Directed By: Sidney J. Furie

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Jon Cryer, Sam Wanamaker, Mark Pillow, Mariel Hemingway, and Margot Kidder

DC Comics has been getting spanked by Marvel at the movies. Just look at Iron Man 3 and how that kicks off Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. DC seriously needs to step up their game and leverage the abundance of comic book mythology at their fingertips. As badly as they're losing...
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REVIEW: In Superman III, Richard Prior Happens to Be a Computer Genius. Seriously???

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, May 4, 2013, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor

Superman III

Directed By: Richard Lester

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn, and Margot Kidder

We've come to the point in this Superman retro series where I have to deliver some harsh truths. First and foremost, we haven't had a good Superman flick in over 30 years. It saddens me to say that Superman II was the last great movie about our favorite Kryptonian donning red and blue tights. Since th...
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REVIEW: Superman II Is All About the Man of Steel Kneeling Before Zod and Finding Some Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, March 7, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Superman II

Directed By: Richard Lester

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Jack O'Halloran, Valerie Perrine, Susannah York, Clifton James, E.G. Marshall, Mark McClure, and Terence Stamp

Superman is rarely given a physical challenge. Because the yellow sun of our galaxy makes him the closest thing to immortal, there are very few who can really go toe-to-toe with him. Because of this, it's a special treat whenever the Man of Steel ...
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REVIEW: The Union of Isengard and Mordor Spells Doom for the World of Men in The Two Towers

Posted by James Brown on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, In : 0.00% Water

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition)

Directed By: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Sala Baker, and Sean Bean

When the journey began with The Fellowship of the Ring, Peter Jackson began introducing the world to his extravagant vi...

REVIEW: Tony Stark May Be on the Highway to Hell, But Iron Man 2 Is Clearly on the Highway to The Avengers

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, April 19, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers

Iron Man 2

Directed By: Jon Favreau

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke, and Samuel L. Jackson

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has really become something to behold. It's something really special in the world of blockbuster filmmaking. Marvel is doing solo films for a number of superheroes and then bringing them together as a team in the 2012 flick The Avengers. The hero who led the pack and introduced this universe to moviegoers was Iro...
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REVIEW: Pirates Has Lost a Little Luster, But It Can Still Light Up the Big Screen with Some Swashbuckling Action

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, February 12, 2012, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Directed By: Rob Marshall

Starring: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane, and Kevin McNally

Hollywood has a nasty habit of killing its best franchises. Releasing sequel after sequel, they keep piling on the movies long after they've run out of worthwhile stories to tell. In 2011 alone, there were 27 sequels. Studios' never ending chase of the almighty dollar has programmed viewers to see most sequels these days as crap. There are...
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