“The Phantom of the Opera is here… inside my mind.”
The Scoop: 2004 PG, directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum and Ciaran Hinds.
Tagline: The world’s biggest musical!
Summary Capsule: Crazy disfigured reclusive musical visionary sociopath loves waifish deranged orphan Opera singer with angel obsession, who in turn loves wishy-washy nobleman who also loves her. People sing. Read the rest of this entry »
“Sit down! Proud, empty, hollow things that you are. Let this remind you why you once feared the dark.”
The Scoop: 12A 2008, directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Ron Perlman, Doug Jones and Luke Goss.
Tagline: Saving the world is a hell of a job.
Summary Capsule: The best damn demon hunter in the world (sorry, Buffy) has to contend with an uptight new boss, an indestructible army, and a hormonal girlfriend. Guess which one he’s dreading most? Read the rest of this entry »
“There are certain times in your life when I guess you’re not supposed to have anyone, you know? Certain doors you gotta go through alone.”
The Scoop: 1990 PG, directed by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Dan Hedaya, and Abe Vigoda
Tagline: An Average Joe. An Adventurous Comedy.
Summary Capsule: Joe vs. a volcano
I remember the first time I saw Clash of the Titans. It was 1991, I was ten years old, and I was in Mrs. Findlay’s fifth grade class at Parker Farms Elementary School. The other fifth graders had been buzzing all week—we were going to take two whole hours out of our school day on Friday and we were going to watch an action movie! We even had to sign a permission slip. It was like a class trip, except we got popcorn.
Friday couldn’t get here fast enough, and, when the day came, we all rushed into class and excitedly took our seats as the VCR whirred to life. Two hours later, the credits rolled and the lights came back up. We began asking the deep, pressing questions that Clash inevitably provokes: What was up with Perseus’s dorky hair? What kind of girly hero rides a flying horse? And, seriously, what was the deal with the owl?
“There are things that go bump in the night. And we are the ones who bump back.”
The Scoop: 2004 12A, directed by Guillermo Del Toro and starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and John Hurt.
Tagline: Give Evil Hell
Summary Capsule: Good supernatural monsters fight against evil supernatural monsters with the help of the government and avert all kinds of Armageddon badness.
“My mother told me to be wary of fauns.”
The Scoop: R 2006, directed by Guilllermo Del Toro and starring Ariadna Gil, Doug Jones and Sergi Lopez.
Tagline: Innocence has a power evil cannot imagine.
Summary Capsule: A young girl brought to live in rural countryside with her pregnant mother and new Fascist army captain stepfather discovers that she is the reincarnation of an underworldly princess and must act fast to reclaim her prior life and throne. Read the rest of this entry »
“One compass remains, and only one who can read it.”
The Scoop: PG-13 2007, directed by Chris Weitz and starring Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman and Sam Elliot.
Tagline: There are worlds beyond our own. The Compass will show the way.
Summary Capsule: Little girl takes on villains who are definitely not the Catholic Church with the help of a cowboy, a witch, some gypsies, a bear and her soul. Read the rest of this entry »
“My lady, I am a hero, and heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen. A quest may not simply be abandoned; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.”
The Scoop: 1982 G, directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. and starring Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Tammy Grimes, Angela Lansbury, Jeff Bridges, Christopher Lee, Brother Theodore, Robert Klein and Rene Auberjenois.
Tagline: There’s Magic in Believing!
Summary Capsule: A unicorn seeks to discover the whereabouts of the rest of her kind. Tragedy and adventure follow. Read the rest of this entry »
Game of Thrones Season 3 is just around the corner, and I absolutely can’t wait! Yet whenever I talk to a fan of the books, the conversation always seems to be about the changes HBO has made and how much they suck. Well I, for one, say no more! Yes, there are moves that I question, but there are many more that I like—heck, there are some changes in the television show that I think work better than the story in the books. Yeah, that’s right, I’ll say it. In fact, here are six moments in Game of Thrones that the writers changed and we’re better off for it:
Readers Beware! Here there be MAJOR SPOILERS for future events in Game of Thrones and the Song of Ice and Fire novels!
“Colonel, how would you feel about being turned into a nice white rabbit?”
The Scoop: 1971 G, directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Cindy O’Callaghan, Roy Snart, Ian Weighill, Tessie O’Shea and Roddy McDowall.
Tagline: You’ll beWITCHED! You’ll beDAZZLED! You’ll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE!
Summary Capsule: Amateur witch teams up with conman and small children to fight the Nazis. Read the rest of this entry »
