Dune (2021)

Dune viewers will likely fall into one of two categories: The first are rabid devotees of Frank Herbert's epic novel, who've been frothing for a definitive cinematic adaptation. In the second group, you'll have...well, everybody else. For all my geekiness, I've never picked up Herbert's beloved book. I can't really explain…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 23, 20210Comments

Greatest The Archive

Aliens (1986)

Aliens pulls off a unique feat in cinema history: With this sequel, James Cameron delivers a brawny masterwork that completely reorients the franchise, without distracting from the landmark film that preceded it. Ridley Scott's Alien had been a brilliant mind-screw that somehow delivered claustrophobic horror amidst the boggling expanse of space. Here,…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 19, 20210Comments

The Archive

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (2021)

Yes, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions is dumber than a box of sheetrock screws. And yes, it's pretty much the reheated leftovers of the first Escape Room. Yet, for reasons I can't fully articulate, I found myself entertained by it. Trust me, I'm as frightened as you are. I guess sometimes…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 18, 20210Comments

The Archive

Tremors (1990)

Look beneath the gloriously goofy shenanigans in Tremors, and you'll find an undercurrent of pure innovation. After all, this film pioneered the freewheeling wackiness of horror-comedies like Shaun of the Dead and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Here, the filmmakers exact a careful balance of savvy and stupid, funny and frightening, and the…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 13, 20210Comments

The Latest

No Time to Die (2021)

I can remember the exact moment my enduring love of James Bond was born: It was my freshman year, and a nasty case of strep throat laid me out for an entire week. Thankfully, it was the very same week that TBS aired their annual 007 marathon. That means every waking minute of my convalescence…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 12, 20210Comments

The Archive

Superman (1978)

Superhero movies now occupy such valuable real estate on the topography of cinema history, it's hard to believe that an adaptation of Superman could ever have been an enormous risk. Sure, the character was already a cultural icon, even by 1978. At the same time, comic book characters had long dwelled in the…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 6, 20210Comments

Latest

Free Guy (2021)

Let me start this review with the sting of brutal truth: Just about any movie that has anything to do with video games makes me want to bash myself in the head with a 7 iron. For every entry that distinguishes itself as tolerable (Ready Player One, for instance), there are ten, twelve--no,…

ByTodd WoffordOctober 2, 20210Comments

The Archive

Con Air (1997)

If an 8 ball of cocaine suddenly burst to life as any movie, it would be Con Air. Dense, sweaty, and startlingly eccentric, this is a unique cinematic experience that somehow elevates ferocious stupidity into an undeniable art form: It's like Picasso meticulously painting a scene from Baywatch, or a gorgeous arrangement of…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 29, 20211Comment

The Latest

Candyman (2021)

Candyman provokes an intriguing question: Is a gory slasher flick the appropriate vessel for important socio-cultural commentary? I grappled with the answer for much of the movie's runtime, tumbling its message over and over in my brain. And then it hit me: Racial tensions are still boiling in this country. …

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 25, 20210Comments

The Latest

Cry Macho (2021)

Last night, I listened to snippets of a new album by a French pianist named Colette Maze. The tracks were elegiac and meticulously constructed. You ready for the crazy part? Maze is 107 years old. She can recall both World Wars. I thought about her as I watched Cry Macho.…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 23, 20210Comments