The Last Voyage of the Demeter
SimilarCarrie (1976), Die Hard (1988), Dr. No (1962), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016),
Jackie Brown (1997) King Kong (1933),
Live and Let Die (1973) Mystic River (2003), Poseidon (2006),
Rebecca (1940) Shaft (2000) Shooter (2007), The 39 Steps (1935),
The Name of the Rose (1986) The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Silent Partner (1978), Wild at Heart (1990), You Only Live Twice (1967),
Watch afterAmerican Fiction (2023),
Barbie (2023) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Meg 2: The Trench (2023), Talk to Me (2023), The Nun II (2023),
The Last Voyage of the Demeter feels like a movie from a different era. To a point, it is—writer Bragi Schut first drafted his adaptation of the 'Log of the "Demeter"' sequence in Bram Stoker's Dracula in the early 2000s. It's a capital letters Hollywood Creature Feature—a grimmer straight horror cousin to 2004's action/horror hybrid Van Helsing. At its best, it's an admirably gnarly monster flick—bolstered by sturdy craft from director André Øvredal and consistently good performances from a game ensemble. At its worst, it loses confidence and resorts to bumbling attempts to guide its audience by the hand—most notably in its prologue and epilogue. Continue Reading →
El hombre del saco
Similar2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Blade Runner (1982), War of the Worlds (2005),
Watch afterMeg 2: The Trench (2023), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), Talk to Me (2023), The Nun II (2023),
Studio20th Century Studios,
What did your boogeyman look like? Continue Reading →
Boston Strangler
SimilarBoys Don't Cry (1999) Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Erin Brockovich (2000), Monster (2003), The Straight Story (1999),
Studio20th Century Studios,
Considering the lurid details of it (let alone that it was never solved), it’s curious that Netflix, America’s number one source for grisly true crime documentaries, has yet to cover the Boston Strangler. It’s a fascinating story largely because the man who was long believed to be the Strangler, Albert DeSalvo, almost certainly didn’t act alone, and may not have even killed all of the thirteen women whose deaths were originally attributed to him. DNA evidence years after the fact conclusively linked DeSalvo, convicted of rape and later murdered in prison, to just one victim. At the time of his arrest, both police and the media were so eager to bring the city-wide hysteria to an end that they pointed at him for all the murders, only quietly conceding after DeSalvo was in jail that there was likely more than one strangler, and that the case was still open. Nearly sixty years later, the other twelve murders remain unsolved. Continue Reading →
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
SimilarBack to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002),
Live and Let Die (1973) On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Sin City (2005), The Dark Knight (2008),
Watch afterEvil Dead Rise (2023), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023),
StarringOwen Wilson, Tom Hiddleston,
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe got bigger and bigger and bigger, it was downright refreshing to see something as fittingly small and low-stakes as the Ant-Man films break up all the universe-ending tension. It was nice; after watching the Avengers punch through an exhausting sea of robotic baddies and set up a bunch of Infinity Stone dross, along came Paul Rudd as a smirking, kinda-dumb thief who lucked his way into a shrinking suit he used on a tech heist. After Thanos snapped half the universe away, we flashed back to good ol' Scott Lang on a caper to bring his mentor Hank Pym's (Michael Douglas) wife Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) back from the Quantum Realm. They were lighter, more carefree, a much-needed sitcom wing of the MCU. Continue Reading →
Dune
SimilarResident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Stalker (1979),
Watch afterDon't Look Up (2021), Eternals (2021), Free Guy (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), The Batman (2022),
StarringBabs Olusanmokun, Stellan Skarsgård,
When I first heard the announcement of a new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s magnum opus Dune, I think I might have groaned and said, “God, not again.” Even with the cult followings that Lynch’s now-disowned 1984 version and SyFy’s plodding 2000 miniseries have amassed, there has yet to be a version that had the kind of mass appeal that gets butts in seats. Continue Reading →
The Suicide Squad
SimilarFree Willy (1993), Godzilla Raids Again (1955), Hellboy (2004),
Live and Let Die (1973) Superman Returns (2006), The Legend of Zorro (2005),
Watch afterBlack Widow (2021), Eternals (2021), Free Guy (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021),
StarringDee Bradley Baker,
In the last decade, there have been numerous shitty attempts to replicate the success of the Marvel Studios formula, but Suicide Squad (2016) may be the worst of the worst. Writer/director David Ayer’s dark and gritty tone clashed with the pop music-heavy trailers, marketing that included songs already used by – and meant to remind viewers of – Guardians of the Galaxy. In the end, the studio hired that same trailer company to re-cut the movie, which was released into theaters as an incomprehensible mess. Noticeably missing a “2” in its title, The Suicide Squad is essentially a 200 million dollar do-over. It’s the movie Warner Brothers should’ve made five years ago. Continue Reading →