Simplest review ever: Ghostbusters: Afterlife is as good as 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot was bad. That was easy. Everything about the latest incarnation of the original Ghostbusters saga is perfect. The writing and directing by Jason Reitman, son of the original film’s director, Ivan Reitman, is fresh, clever and logical. It’s a breath of fresh air after that 2016 reboot … [Read more...]
The Sanctum Sangiacomo: The Eternals!
The Eternals ranks with the best of Marvel Universe movies and ushers in a new era of films. There was some concern about a new film that introduces so many new characters into the already crowded Marvel universe, but the fears are unrealized. The Eternals, based on Jack Kirby’s 1976 comic series, takes the writer’s work and collapses it into a 157-minute classic that … [Read more...]
The Sanctum Sangiacomo: Like Grains of Sand through the Hours and Hours Glass….
The latest interpretation of the massive Frank Herbert novel, Dune, is a sprawling epic about greed, ambition and the cruelty of destiny. While the film is beautiful and the acting impeccable, it is hampered by a ponderous first act that weighs down the entire film. Director Denis Villeneuve (Bladerunner 2049 and Arrival) tried mightily to bring the novel to the screen … [Read more...]
The Sanctum Sangiacomo: Let There Be Carne Asada! I mean, Carnage!
Venom: Let There Be Carnage has everything a comic-loving moviegoer could ask for in a sequel: a logical story, well-placed humor, excellent acting, and brilliant special effects. In a nutshell, it’s as good as the first movie, Venom, was bad. Sony Pictures, clinging to its tiny piece of the Marvel movie empire, had the courage to release the sequel during a pandemic, which … [Read more...]
The Sanctum Shang-Chiacomo: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting and Other Cool Stuff!
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is Marvel’s latest foray into the new cinematic cycle without powerhouse actors like Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans – and it is a masterpiece. Shang Chi, a stalwart hero from Marvel Comics since his introduction in 1973, has been through many changes -- including the cancellation of his own series – and … [Read more...]