Twilight (dir. Catherine Hardwicke, 2008) The Twilight Saga: New Moon (dir. Chris Weitz, 2009) The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (dir. David Slade, 2010) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 1 (dir. Bill Condon, 2011) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 2 (dir. Bill Condon, 2012) It’s a little late to be doing this, isn’t it? The discourse around … Continue reading The Twilight Saga (2008-2012)

Incident at Loch Ness (dir. Zak Penn, 2004) Werner Herzog’s appearance in the trailer for The Mandalorian created a stir because it was so incongruous with the popular conception of him. Why is the legendary director who made Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo doing in a Star Wars show? But people said the … Continue reading Incident at Loch Ness

Ticks (dir. Tony Randel, 1993) I’ve rarely been so surprised to discover a film isn’t a comedy than Ticks. Do you know what it’s about? A bunch of teenagers are terrorized by giant killer ticks mutated by chemicals used by a Humboldt County cannabis growing operation. You read that description and you naturally think, “Well, … Continue reading Ticks (1993)

The Relic (dir. Peter Hyams, 1997) As an unrelentingly dorky child, I would repeatedly watch a VHS copy of Star Trek: First Contact, giving me (1) a lifelong appreciation for Jonathan “Two Takes” Frakes as a director and (2) an indelible memory of the trailer for the Peter Hyams horror movie The Relic. I have … Continue reading The Relic (1997)

Prophecy (dir. John Frankenheimer, 1979) Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a foundational work of the environmental movement, in 1962. In 1968, the American Indian Movement came into being, advocating for indigenous rights, occupying Alcatraz from 1969 to 1971 and was subject to intense scrutiny and harassment by local, state, and federal law enforcement. In 1970, … Continue reading Prophecy (1979)

Arachnophobia (dir. Frank Marshall, 1990) Arachnophobia commits the unforgivable sin of making me sympathize with its baby boomer protagonist. Ross Jennings (Jeff Daniels) has uprooted his whole life to set up a medical practice in a small town in Northern California because the local doctor has decided to retire. He’s moved his family out of … Continue reading Arachnophobia

DeepStar Six (dir. Sean S. Cunningham, 1989) Have you seen The Abyss? You know, the movie James Cameron directed with underwater aliens and that rat dunked into fluorocarbon fluid while the American Humane Association advisor was on their smoke break? It’s good, aside from the animal cruelty. Not that the human cast members fared much … Continue reading DeepStar Six

Slugs (dir. Juan Piquer Simón, 1988) Slugs, based on a novel of the same name by Shaun Hutson and also known in the director’s native Spanish as Slugs, Muerte Viscosa, is about viscous death by slugs, appropriately enough. You might be asking: “How? Are they huge? Venomous? Possessed of unusual cunning?” The answer to those … Continue reading Slugs (1988)

White Noise (dir. Geoffrey Sax, 2005) Geoffrey Sax’s White Noise is an abject failure as an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel, deviating wildly from the source material. Michael Keaton plays a widowed architect instead of the Dean of Hitler Studies at a liberal arts college, there’s no visit to the Most Photographed Barn in … Continue reading White Noise (2005)

Creep (dir. Christopher Smith, 2004) A young woman Kate (Frank Potente) leaves one party for another, because supposedly George Clooney is in attendance, and then has a very bad time in the London Underground because it is rude to leave a party like that and to bother the star of One Fine Day. For those … Continue reading Creep (2004)