Saturday, January 28, 2017
First Lines: Peter Matthiessen - The Snow Leopard
In late September of 1973, I set out with GS on a journey to the Crystal Mountain, walking west under Annapurna and north along the Kali Gandaki River, then west and north again, around the Dhaulagiri peaks and across the Kanjiroba, two hundred and fifty miles or more to the Land of Dolpo, on the Tibetan Plateau.
Friday, January 27, 2017
Pompeii (2014)
A slave-turned-gladiator finds himself in a race against time to save his true love, who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator, and, as Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.
Below-average historical catastrophe drama full of age-old cliches; one is relieved when the volcano finally erupts.
Maltin**1/2: "Special effects are the star attraction in the kind of sword-and-sandal epic that was once a staple in Hollywood. This is pure, hokey fun for the nondiscerning, even if Sutherland's bad-guy performance is a bit monotonous."
Thursday, January 26, 2017
The Last Days on Mars (2013)
A group of astronaut explorers succumb one by one to a mysterious and terrifying force while collecting specimens on Mars.
Old-fashioned and formulaic sci-fi horror movie is nicely produced, but simply doesn't offer anything new.
Maltin: "Well cast and well made on a low budget, but its debuting director is let down by a script with indifferent dialogue and one of the worst ideas conceivable for an otherwise realistic science-fiction tale: Martian bacteria turn human beings into the murderous walking dead. Oh dear."
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Monday, January 23, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Pitch Black (2000)
A group of marooned space travelers struggle for survival on a seemingly lifeless sun-scorched world.
Above-average sci-fi thriller with some atmospheric visuals.
On renewed viewing: I must admit it's not a masterpiece but a guilty pleasure of mine.
Halliwell (no star): "Essentially a 'B' movie with a few pretensions, this delivers its shocks efficiently enough, but is otherwise in need of a better script and a bigger budget."
Maltin**: "Ambitious, but formulaic sci-fi/horror film...Some exciting scenes and effects, but weighed down by a feeling of deja vu."
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