Ummm… Okay… And then this happened. Look, I need to say this: I’m really impressed with Matthew Cooper’s films. Particularly At the Mountains of Madness, which is near perfect. Admittedly, Markham is a first effort and it shows, but his second film has a clever story, great editing, and some pretty decent CGI monsters. And […]
Read more "When the Earth Gives Up the Dead (2022)"Honorable Mention Over the weekend, I watched two films based on H.P. Lovecraft’s tale, “The Shadow over Innsmouth.” It is, of course, not only one of his best-known tales but also one of his most highly regarded. But of all his stories, it is also quite probably the one which has been adapted most often. […]
Read more "Markham (2020)"I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for eager creatives trying very hard to put their vision on the screen. I’ll even find a good word to say about it if I can. And there is a lot of earnest hard work on display in Gammelgormium: First Contact. Craig Philip Peterson first tried to put The […]
Read more "Gammelgormium: First Contact (2023)"To really appreciate this one, I had to go back and watch it a second time. It’s one of those films: it is so strange and unique, that it is hard to absorb all at once. But that’s not a bad thing. I’ve seen quite a bit of animation from behind the Iron Curtain: while, […]
Read more "Holdmese [Moon Flight] (1975)"Not every film has to be a great film. Take Deus, for example. It has an awful lot going for it, as science fiction films go. It looks quite good, the story is interesting, the resolution unexpected even if the clues are there. So, yeah, I have a soft spot for it. I suppose it […]
Read more "Deus (2022)"(aka, Lent in the Month of March, Mars en carême) Think of it as a French version of Local Hero — but with Martians. I suppose it would help if I explained that I happen to own a couple of books on Science Fiction Film from the 1970s — after 2001 and The Planet of […]
Read more "Ne jouez pas avec les Martiens [Don’t Play with Martians] (1968)"Lately, Animation and I have had a very complex relationship. It hasn’t exactly been a good one, not for some time now. I suppose, in a way, you might blame Pixar. Not that it’s exactly their fault, it is more that everyone else had to copy them and all the money went into computer animated […]
Read more "Misiunea spatialã Delta [Delta Space Mission] (1984)"$29,000. It’s hard to take in. This impressive little film was made with Kickstarter backing for only $29,000. It certainly doesn’t look that cheap. At first glance, the film looks like something Pixar animated five or maybe ten years ago. With the main characters shot in live action and greenscreened in, that is. I suppose […]
Read more "MEAD (2022)"(aka, Phoenix 2772, Phoenix 2772: The Cosmic Zone of Love. Literal translation: Phoenix 2772: Space Creature) Osamu Tezuka. It’s really hard to grasp Tezuka’s place within the Anime and Manga world. Perhaps the best comparison might be to Walt Disney, although that really doesn’t quite cover it either. Yes, his Astroboy series — and the […]
Read more "Hi no tori 2772: Ai no kosumozôn [Space Firebird 2772] (1980)"(aka, Russian Road to the Stars) Great accomplishments in film never stand on their own. Take for example Kubrick’s masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey: It stunned audiences of its day, giving them an incredible glimpse of our solar system and the future of space travel, with a level of detail, scientific accuracy and believability never […]
Read more "Doroga k zvezdam [Road to the Stars] (1957)"
rivets on the poster 