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Lindsay Hallhttp://digestible.wordpress.comLove God. Love People. Love flicks. Love food.
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Priest Review

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Director: Scott Charles Stewart

Writers: Cory Goodman, Min-Woo Hyung

Starring: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q

Year: 2011

When, exactly, did Paul Bettany become an action star?

He is, on the surface, the least threatening guy I’ve ever seen – he looks like the kind of guy who’d enjoy a good night’s easy listening to Kenny G. But at some point in the past few years he really got into the idea of tackling spiritual issues with extreme prejudice.

Anyhoo, Priest is an apocalyptic-sci-fi-horror-action-comic-book-western (and I’ve probably missed one or two genre mash-ups there). An impressive animated Continue reading →

Cash Cows – Firefly

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Creator/Director: Joss Whedon

Writers: Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, Ben Edlund, Jose Molina

Cast: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Ron Glass

Years: 2002-2005

“…You can’t take the sky from me.”

Let’s hop in the wayback machine. In 1997 a limited-run program titled Sessions at West 54th presented a live performance of an up and coming band calling themselves “Ben Fold Five”. Host Chris Douridas intorduced them with this brilliantly simple statement: “If you’ve heard these guys perform, you’re a fan. If you haven’t, you’re about to be.”

Ladies and gentlemen… Continue reading →

Sunshine Review

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Director: Danny Boyle

Writer: Alex Garland

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Mark Strong

Year: 2007

I can’t remember who it was who described the formula for a thriller, but it goes something like this: A man is on a crashing plane and the controls are damaged; at the last second he finds a parachute and jumps from the plane, only to find Continue reading →

The Taking of Pelham 123 Review

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Director: Tony Scott

Writers: Brian Helgeland, John Godey

Starring: Denzel Washington, John Travolta

Year: 2009

…what? I don’t even remember watching this.

Which is odd because I’m looking at the disc which I have only just now taken out of the player; and the cover which lays open on the coffee table; and I know that I’ve had the TV on and it was playing something…

Good grief. If we can translate the principles Continue reading →

Cash Cows – Predator

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Directors: John McTiernan, Stephen Hopkins, Nimrod Antal, Paul W.S. Anderson, The Brothers Strause

Writers: Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Alex Litvak, Michael Finch, Robert Rodriguez, Paul W.S. Anderson, Shane Salerno

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny Glover, Kevin Peter Hall, Adrien Brody, Lance Henrickson, Sanaa Lathan, Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale

Years: 1987-2007

Predator

Ok, seriously…what the hell!?! I’ve spent a whole week looking at AVP: Requiem and I can’t see a damn thing! I mean it – I could never review this film because I can’t actually Continue reading →

Captain America Review

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Director: Joe Johnston

Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby

Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones

Year: 2011

I’m gonna try not to gush, but I gotta say: YEAH BABY!

For those of you who don’t know and aren’t reading this review anyway, Captain America marks the last stop on the Marvel Studios line before reaching The Avengers. Others much more qualified than I have gone into detail on the creative process Continue reading →

Cash Cows – Alien

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Directors: Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Paul W.S. Anderson, The Brothers Strause

Writers: Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett, James Cameron, David Giler, Walter Hill, Vincent Ward, Larry Ferguson, Joss Whedon, Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Paul W.S. Anderson, Shane Salerno

Starring: Sigourney Weaver and a bunch of people that no-one really cares about except for Lance Henrickson and Ron Perlman…but they were all big stars at some point.

Years: 1979-2007

There can be no better examination of filmmaking as a collaborative craft than a look at the Alien franchise. This is what happens when a ridiculous number of people get together to tinker with a simple idea – resulting in varying amounts of genius, ineptitude and (in both cases) insanity.

Let’s begin, shall we? Continue reading →

Dark City Review

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Writer/Director: Alex Proyas (w/ Len Dobbs & David S. Goyer)

Starring: Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly

Year: 1998

In the year 1998 I saw a movie. It was a movie that seemed to come out of nowhere. It was a movie marked by distinct visual style, brilliant special effects and a heart-racing soundtrack. It was a movie that questioned the nature of reality as we know, and asked deep questions about humanity and life. My friends and I came away from it not quite sure if we’d ‘got’ all that we’d just seen, but certain that it was a remarkable and groundbreaking new standing stone in the evolution of movies.

I am, of course, talking about The Matrix… which I will never review.

What I can do is take that paragraph and Continue reading →

Interstate 60 Review

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Director: Bob Gale

Starring: James Marsden, Amy Smart, Gary Oldman

Year: 2002

Interstate 60

In 2001 writer/director Bob Gale (Back to the Future) wanted to make a movie. He invited all of his friends to help him out. The finished product ended up featuring Christopher Lloyd, Chris Cooper, Michael J. Fox, Gary Oldman and Kurt freakin’ Russel!

If you’ve heard of this flick, congrats, that makes about five of us. I stumbled Continue reading →

Cash Cows – X-Men

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Directors: Bryan Singer, Brett Ratner, Gavin Hood, Matthew Vaughn

Writers: Bryan Singer, Tom DeSanto, David Hayter, Zak Penn, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, Simon Kinberg, David Benioff, Skip Woods, Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Sheldon Turner

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Ian Mckellen, Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Rebecca Romijn, Hugh Jackman, Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Kelsey Grammer, Shawn Ashmore, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Houston, Ryan Reynolds (I think…maybe), Lynn Collins, HUGH JACKMAN, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon (Yeah Baby!), Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones and…Hugh Jackman!

Years: 2000-2011

Believe it or not, there was a time when this didn’t seem like such a great idea. Continue reading →