The View From The Mountain

Warning, this review contains a mild spoiler Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a sequel to the 2014 Godzilla film that many people trashed because Godzilla wasn’t shown onscreen nearly enough in the film. Personally, while I understand the criticism, I still enjoyed the 2014 movie, which re-introduce the Big G to modern day audiences, and it was successful enough to start a whole new universe of film sequels that started with Kong: Skull Island . That universe-building continues with Godzilla: King of the Monsters , which is directed by Michael Dougherty, who also helmed the Halloween classic Trick R Treat . There are monsters galore in the new Godzilla , which heeded the complaints about the earlier film by showing all of them onscreen in their full glory. The most intimidating of these monsters--next to the Big G himself--is Monster Zero, a three-headed, winged beast that is also known as Gidorah. When he’s released from the antarctic ice beneath a secret base, Monster Zero imm...

Warning, this review has spoilers for this movie. First off, I enjoyed Avengers: Endgame ( A:E ). It’s hard not to enjoy this epic superhero tale, which unites a group of heroes in a daring plot to undo a horrific, universe-wide mass murder that’s been committed by an interstellar warlord named Thanos (well-played in motion capture by Josh Brolin). Even though time travel is involved, the Russo Brothers do a grand job in keeping a handle on it, making sure that the concept, as well as its execution, is understandable to lay audiences. And even if the science explanation is lost on some people, it doesn’t really matter, because A:E gets very far on its charm and excitement. However, with a three hour running time, A:E can still be very unwieldy, and it even drags badly in many sections. I did not see A:E in the theaters, instead I waited for it to hit home video, and I’m very glad that I did this. I paused the movie after every hour for either a bathroom or a snack replenishment br...

Jordan Peele strikes again with Us , his latest horror film. Lupita Nyong'o stars as Addy Wilson, the matriarch of an upscale family that goes to the beach for a vacation. Addy has a wonderfully idyllic life that’s complete with a loving husband--Gabe--two happy, well-adjusted kids--Zora and Jason--and the disposable income required to take all the time they need to recharge at their summer home, which is just a short drive from the boardwalk of Santa Cruz (which is where Lost Boys was shot--a film that's referenced often here). But the Wilson’s cheerful time at the beach is shattered by the arrival of a very weird family that literally shows up on their doorstep. Despite Gabe’s (well-played by Winston Duke) best efforts to scare them off, as well as Addy calling the police immediately, this creepy family breaks into their home and holds them all captive. And as if that wasn’t scary enough, these intruders ARE the Wilsons: they are doppelgangers of each member of the Wilson f...

When Serenity , starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, was released theatrically earlier this year, it was ripped, bashed and completely trashed by reviewers, many of whom thought of it as being an insipidly stupid story that never should have seen the light of day. Some even criticized it for taking the name of a much better movie called Serenity (2005), the Joss Whedon-directed science fiction film that served as a magnificent capper to his equally marvelous TV series, Firefly (and I agree that the SF Serenity is superb). Naturally, I wanted to see this new Serenity , which dared to take the name of a beloved SF film, because I wanted to see if this new film lived up to the hype of being such a scathingly reviewed flick that has already earned its place on several “worst of” lists of 2019. McConaughey stars as a fishing boat skipper named Baker Dill who’s having some trouble keeping his grip on reality. He’s served in Iraq, and--as he freely admits--his tour in the milita...