The “jump scare” is a well established trope of horror films, in which the “shriek chord” on the soundtrack suddenly rises, in order to give audiences a jolt. Lazy horror films aggressively use the “shriek chord” but aren’t fooling anyone. If a filmmaker needs the equivalent of someone screaming in my ear to induce fear, then the director and their movie are clearly unworthy. A … [Read more...] about ‘Alien’ Movie Review: Still a masterpiece, ‘Alien’ returns to theaters for three days in October
Ridley Scott
Best of the Wurst Movies 2017
What a strange movie year 2017 was. Twelve months ago, who could have imagined that M. Night Shyamalan's Split would be the year's first huge hit and provide a major comeback? Or that the all-star The Dark Tower would vanish quickly while the smaller scale It wound up being a genre classic? Did anyone predict that Jordan Peele's Get Out would become a definitive 2017 satire … [Read more...] about Best of the Wurst Movies 2017
BLADE RUNNER 2049 New Movie Review
My college philosophy professor began his first class by asking his students how we knew we weren't just heads floating in a jar. We all chimed in, "Of course we're not heads in a jar! We're alive, we have memories, all sorts of physical proof and, c'mon, that's just stupid!" My professor calmly retorted, "Can you prove it? You have memories... so what? You can touch me and … [Read more...] about BLADE RUNNER 2049 New Movie Review
Your MauiTime 2017 Summer Movie Wrap-Up
A baffling summer at the movies started strong, until the good choices were too widely dispersed over the course of four months. The bad movies were in such abundance, audiences managed to wisely put their foot down and voted with their pocketbook. Instead of saying, "Oh, why not, I saw the other four....," filmgoers actually said no to Michael Bay's Transformers: The Last … [Read more...] about Your MauiTime 2017 Summer Movie Wrap-Up
ALIEN: COVENANT New Movie Review
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 and explaining where the enormous Space Jockey had … [Read more...] about ALIEN: COVENANT New Movie Review