Tron: Legacy a Movie Review by John Lobell It is bad enough that movies have become so formulaic, but when they are, they could at least follow the rules of the formula. In Tron: Legacy, we have: – Search for and reconciliation with the father – Travel to the underworld for the completion of the […]
Archives for 2010
On Black Swan
Black Swan: A Movie Review by John Lobell A female ballet dancer in a New York Lincoln Center company has for too long been passed over, but now she has been chosen for a role in a reworked Swan Lake which will require her to dance both the role of the pure White Swan, and […]
On Skyline
Skyline: A Movie Review by John Lobell [Spoiler alert] Mummy movies begin with the 1932 film The Mummy starring Boris Karloff, and subsequent mummy movies follow the pattern it lays down. Our mummy, who has survived for thousands of years (by the miracle of tana leaves) is seeking to kill a contemporary woman whom he […]
Splice: A Movie Review
by John Lobell [Spoiler alert] First, some personal background. I have for the past few years been consulting on a project called Timeship, a $300 million project devoted to extreme life extension. Put simply, the developers of the project object to death and intend to “cure” it, finding the genetic cause of aging and turning […]
On Harry Brown
Harry Brown: A Movie Review (Actually more of a political comment). By John Lobell Harry Brown, with seventy-seven year old Michael Caine, is in the tradition of Death Wish but it most closely evokes eighty year old Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, even to the point of using the “Harry” from Eastwood’s earlier Dirty Harry movies. […]
On Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans: A Movie Review (Actually, more of a meditation) by John Lobell Ok, a mish mash of plots and stories, quarrels and backstabbing among the Greek gods (no Titans, despite the title), confused story lines, and lame dialogue. So, should we just appreciate the great special effects (love that Pegasus) and dismiss […]