It’s been about a decade since filmmaker Ridley Scott made the unguarded comment about making an Alien prequel. He was reflecting on Alien, only his second movie in a career marked with milestones, and thinking aloud what a prequel would be like. He imagined a focus on the Alien planet, going back to that mysterious spaceship […]
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE New Movie Review
The opening of Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse is grand and exciting, evoking Cecil B. DeMille with a sublime hunk of Stargate cheese. We witness an Egyptian leader with extraordinary powers named Apocalypse (an imposing Oscar Isaac). Dozens of his followers declare him a false god and stage a coup. Centuries later, Apocalypse and his minions […]
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ opening night at Kaahumanu Theater
X-Men: Apocalypse has a premiere screening this Thursday, May 26 at the Queen Ka`ahumanu Theater. This action-adventure series continues when Apocalypse, the world’s most powerful mutant , shows up. Then the X-Men have to unite to defeat him. Stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. $15.50 adults/ $13.75 seniors/ $12.50 child. 7pm. Queen Kaahumanu Center ( 275 […]
STEVE JOBS New Movie Review
Nearly every movie plays like an advertisement for Apple. I’ve noticed this for years and suspect moviegoers have as well: in about 85 percent of all movies, there’s a scene where a character turns on their laptop and the Apple symbol is always in plain view. The cliché used to be that when a character […]
Fall Movie Preview 2015
Matt Damon returns to space, CGI Snoopy, the return of James Bond and a new Star Wars film? It’s time to bid dinos, fast cars, super heros and rappers adios, as the big guns of the summer are changing hands. Between now and Christmas, here are 11 reasons you’ll be at the movies on opening day: […]
Summer 2014 Movie Preview
It’s been 25 years since the landmark Summer of Sequels swept America. The movie season of May-September 1989 had a then-record eight sequels in theaters (including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) and created lines that famously stretched far outside the theaters. Most memorably, Bat-Mania took over the world, as Tim Burton’s Batman set the standard […]
12 YEARS A SLAVE New Movie Review
How painful must a historical reenactment be in order for it to establish authenticity? This was a question I had while watching 12 Years a Slave, director Steve McQueen’s follow-up to his devastating Shame. His latest tells the story of Solomon, played by Chiwetel Ejiofer, a free black man living with his wife and family […]
THE COUNSELOR New Movie Review
You know you’re watching a film noir when the main character is presented with two choices and never picks the right one. Of course, if people in movies did the right thing, made the correct, morally responsible decisions and acted like good, upstanding citizens, we wouldn’t have a movie. In Ridley Scott’s The Counselor, Michael […]