Gladiator Is Straightforward To A Fault

Aside from them both being Best Picture winners, it's doubtful anyone would ever think to compare Gladiator and Driving Miss Daisy, but that's just what I'm going to be doing today. Obviously, both films differ greatly in terms of story, tone and types of characters they explore, but both are feature films that I've watched for the first time recently that are amiable endeavors that also can't help but feel like they're a little basic, they stick to tried-and-true storytelling & characters too heavily and in the process feel like they're eschewing the chance to carve out their own identity, though at least Gladiator does have the distinction of reviving the swords-and-sandals genre in a big way at the dawn of the 21st century.

Money, Money, Money, It's Not So Funny In A Rich Man's World In All The Money In The World

The newest Ridley Scott movie, All The Money In The World, has generated plenty of discussion leading up to its theatrical release this past December and it's extremely easy to see why. Kevin Spacey had shot his entire role as J. Paul Getty earlier this year and the film was almost ready to go when news broke at the tail end of October 2017 about sexual allegations being lobbed at Kevin Spacey. All of a sudden, this motion picture found itself starring one of the most detested men in Hollywood and Ridley Scott undertook a preposterous-sounding task to rectify this: reshoot Spacey's scenes with Christopher Plummer instead playing the role.

Song to Song Is Out of Tune And Devoid of Substance

Here we go again...here we go again.

Yes, Terrence Malick returned to the silver screen this year with Song to Song, his fourth directorial effort in the last eight years, a stunning turnaround in terms of output considering the long gaps of time between projects in his filmography prior to 2011. Now he's just churning these things out like a madman and while his work ethic that's rivaling Ridley Scott or Takashi Miike is admirable, the quality of his recent efforts suggest he should maybe chillax, take a breather and come up with some kind of imagery or atmosphere he wants to exude before filming a movie instead of just tossing a bunch of major actors into a number of disparate locales and calling it a day.

There's Just Not Enough Brains Or Good Scares In The Underwhelming Alien: Covenant

Ridley Scott is a master of his craft. Like fellow 1970's filmmaker trailblazer Steven Spielberg, it's awesome to see him still out there making large-scale movies and pushing boundaries in the modern age. The guys made his modern-day duds for sure (The Counselor has its notable fanbase for sure but I just couldn't get into and Exodus: Gods And Kings was a total snoozefest) but his most recent film, The Martian, demonstrated why we al fell in love with him in the first place. All of that praise having been said, I won't lie; Alien: Covenant, his newest directorial effort, does make me think it's time for some new creative (acid) blood to get injected into this franchise on some level.

The Martian Review

Just before Mark Watney (Matt Damon) attempts to grow some food on the surface of Mars (the planet where he's been inadvertently stranded), he makes a video log where he declares that the planet "...will soon fear [his] botany skills". Some rock music follows that line immediately as he walks to a crate carrying human excrement that he'll use as soil for his crops. It's a moment that sounds preposterous when I describe it, but given how well the film, even this early on in the running time, has developed Mark as a protagonist more than worth rooting for, this potentially ludicrous occurrence instead becomes exceedingly exciting.

Alien Review (Classic Write-Up)

In Space, No Can Hear You Scream, Or Make A Great Movie

Sci-fi and horror are two genres that are routinely mixed in storytelling, likely because the vastness and mysterious nature of outer space mixes well the inherent terror associated with horror. Because, really, few things scare human beings as much as being confronted with the unknown, and that's the kind of fear that's taken ahold of the crew of the spaceship Nostromo. The various men and women aboard this spacecraft have discovered an extraterrestrial is among them, and it's vicious attacks are picking off each crew member one by one.

Exodus: Gods And Kings Review

All About That Exodus, Exodus, No Treble

I went into Exodus: Gods And Kings with some skepticism. You see, I played Moses in a VBS sketch for my Church group this summer and I was dubious to say the least that Christian Bale could match my acting chops. Sure, he had a $140 million budget and director Ridley Scott at his disposal, but did he have a snake puppet to utilize like I did? As it turns out, Bale is missing more than just a snake toy in his performance, as he and the movie itself feel lacking as a whole.