In 1996 the original Independence Day set a new high in spaceship special effects and a new low in silly-ass American propaganda movie making. Its cartoonish tale of gung-ho Americans repelling an invasion by slimy aliens was dumb but tolerable sci- fi action fare. Even though it was a box office hit that film has taken 20 years to spawn
Read moreMidnight Special, the latest film from Mud and Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols concerns a young boy with what appears to be psychic powers. While watching this film audience members will feel like they have psychic powers due to the strange sensation they will experience of having seen much of this film before. To reveal which films Midnight Special resembles
Read moreThe 5th Wave, which is based on the first book in a trilogy by Rick Yancey, is yet another post-apocalyptic teen lit/ sci-fi/ action/ fantasy/ romance. Next to Marvel Comics adaptations this genre is fast becoming the most mind-numbingly familiar fixture in our cinemas. While succumbing to many of the teen-lit clichés, The Fifth Wave has a least a few
Read moreThe Wachowski’s latest film, space opera Jupiter Ascending may be visually spectacular bit its barrage of multi-million dollar effects can’t compensate for an outrageously silly and confusingly plot. The Wachowski’s appear to have taken scripting lessons from David Lynch’s version of Dune as Jupiter Ascending makes no sense. Pinching bits of Star Wars, Flash Gordon and the Wachowski’s own Matrix
Read moreAlong with David Fincher, Chris Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Memento, Inception) has been the most exciting Hollywood filmmaker of the last decade. James Cameron may have made a bundle with Avatar but Fincher and Nolan have given us something darker, more cerebral and ultimately more satisfying. Consequently, Chris Nolan’s latest film, space epic Interstellar, has been the subject of
Read moreFilms with a sinister, all-powerful, self-aware computer threatening to obliterate the human race have almost become a genre unto themselves. There was the creepy HAL trying to scuttle the Jupiter mission in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Skynet triggering the apocalypse in The Terminator, Colossus threatening nuclear annihilation in Colossus: The Forbin Project and the female-voiced computer taunting Shia Labeouf in
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