Spider-man
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The film is true to the spirit of the original comic book. Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker is the John Romita version, a sweet,
intelligent kid, picked on by jocks because he has brains instead of muscles. Steve Ditko's Peter Parker was a skinny dweeb
who got picked on by jocks because he wore a sign on his back that said, "Pick on me." The look of the film owes at
least as much to Romita as it does to Ditko.
The Time Machine
a movie review by Rick Norwood
How does this film compare with the 1960 version? Quite well. It gives screen credit to David Duncan, writer
of the earlier film, which it resembles more than it does the Wells' novel. It replaces the cheesy special effects
with some very nice music and visuals, while retaining some of the period charm. The time machine itself will never
become the major icon of SF cinema that the George Pal Time Machine model has become, but it's not bad.
To Live and Die in Starlight
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick remembers reading an interview somewhere in which Joe Straczynski talks about calling up Harlan Ellison
(before they had met) and saying, "Nobody will buy my stuff." And Harlan, ever the straight shooter, said, "That's because your stuff is shit."
And the story goes that J. Michael Straczynski then redoubled his efforts to not only write, but write stuff that was
really good, and that's when he broke into television. Rick wishes he had remembered that lesson.
Dr. Who: The Five Doctors
a DVD review by Rick Norwood
They are a guilty pleasure, but the three stories where the Doctors meet one another are especially
fun. This DVD has more Doctors and more Companions than any other.
The series follows the adventures of a Time Lord, never named but called simply "The Doctor". Because
the show ran for time out of mind, actors came and went, and the internal explanation for these changes of appearance
is that a Time Lord can regenerate, gaining a new face and a personality to fit. Then you add time travel to the
mix, and the Doctor can meet himself coming and going.
The Fellowship of the Ring
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Visually, this movie is a dream come true. New Zealand was the perfect place
to film, with exactly the right mix of the familiar and the exotic. The action is exciting, the landscapes
grand, the recreations of Hobbiton and Rivendell as good as anything this side of our imaginations could
be. The acting is near perfection. There is never a moment when you doubt the reality of the characters,
despite the fact that they are very different heights from the actors who play them.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This movie is about wishes that come true, and both the book and the film are better than we had any right to hope.
There is enough plot here for 10 films, and it would have been easy to rush scenes or to leave them out entirely, but
we are always allowed a few moments to gape in awe at the wonder and beauty of this wholly magical world. The attention
to detail is delightful; this is a magical world that looks lived in, more real than reality.
K-PAX
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The first third of the film is the story of an alien who comes to earth and, for reasons never explained, chooses to
spend much of his stay hanging around a mental hospital. The alien really is an alien. There is ample evidence. To
mention just a few pieces of evidence, any one of which would be conclusive: he can see ultraviolet, he knew many
years ago about an extra-solar planet only recently discovered, he can enter and leave the hospital undetected...
Dr Who: Spearhead from Space
a DVD review by Rick Norwood
The pleasures of Dr. Who are real but elusive. A lot depends on how you watch. For example, it would be a mistake
to try to watch a complete story all the way through. The silly story and laughable special effects would overwhelm
any appreciation of the clever bits. But if you watch, say, one episode a day, that's about right, and you are always
glad when the end-title theme music comes on. In fact, the great Dr. Who theme music is one of the show's chief pleasures.
Gormenghast
a DVD review by Rick Norwood
This is the greatest gothic film ever made. It is fantastic without
fantasy, opulent, decadent, baroque, bizarre, beautifully acted, gloriously
filmed. The genius is in the characters;
John Sessions as Prunesquallor deserves special mention, then
there is Steerpike, the charming monster, who smiles and smiles and is yet a villain -- and why shouldn't he be,
considering the way he is treated.
Planet of the Apes
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It upset Rick that Tim Burton assembled so much talent in the form of costumers, set designers,
and choreographers and blew it all away on a deeply, deeply stupid script. William Broyles Jr. is a good writer -- he
wrote Apollo 13 -- but Mark Rosenthal has written a dozen bad movies, including
The Beverly Hillbillies and Superman IV. Why would anyone allow him to write again?
Jurassic Park III
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Joe Johnson is a yeoman director whose work is solidly in the middle ranks. Rick enjoyed Jumanji
and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and he liked The Rocketeer a lot. But, oh, what
Stephen Spielberg could have done with this material!
A.I.
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Do not under any circumstances take a child to see this film. That's the
most important thing you need to know. The next question is, do you want to
see it yourself? It's very much worth seeing, but it isn't fun and it isn't
easy. It does, however, treat science fiction ideas with the respect they deserve.
The Mummy Returns
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Start with the water rushing through tunnels from Indiana Jones, cut to the creatures
crawling under the skin from The X-Files, then move on to Lara Croft's London mansion,
and so on. Along the way, toss in the airship from Master of the World, the face in the water
from The Abyss, and the creatures moving through tall grass from Jurassic Park II.
Pretty soon, you've got a movie.
Dune
a TV mini-series review by Rick Norwood
Dune, by Frank Herbert, first appeared in John W. Campbell's legendary Astounding Science Fiction
magazine. Actually, by that time Astounding had changed its name to Analog, the
Astounding gradually fading out, the Analog gradually fading in, over the space of the
year.
The 6th Day
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This is the kind of film where any synopsis will inevitably give away most if not all of the plot. Rick
has a few words about that and the movie's trailer.
Unbreakable
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This movie, like Demolition Man, is a different breed of cat. Both films have a lot of fun with ways
in which the future is different from the present. Stallone knits a sweater. Schwarzenegger smokes an illegal cigar.
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Red Planet
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The best Rick can say about this movie is this: if you are really desperate for a sci-fi fix in a year without
any first rate SF films, you won't be completely bored.
Hollow Man
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It says something about the movie that we never think of the invisible man as a character, only as Kevin Bacon in an
invisibility suit. There are a lot of ideas in this movie, most of them visual. The movie shows you every invisibility
special effect you can imagine, plus a few more you've never thought of. There is even a purely visual
Shakespeare reference, involving a fly.
X-Men
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick bought the first issue of The X-Men new off the newsstand for
12 cents in 1963 and sold it twenty years later to help pay off his mortgage.
He enjoyed the new X-Men film much more than he expected.
The one good review he's read said it wasn't dumb like the comic
book -- this from a reviewer who obviously never read a comic book.
Frequency
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It is almost impossible to write a time travel story that does not contradict itself. Probably the closest is
Larry Niven's "All the Myriad Ways." In a Hollywood that usually doesn't even try to make sense, this movie
tries, and deserves points for making the effort. But that is not why you should see the film.
Mission to Mars
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This is an entertaining science fiction film that strives to be scientifically
accurate. The audience may not even notice that it takes radio messages many minutes to reach Earth (at the speed of light), that
gravity in space is supplied by centrifugal force, and that the alien clock is counting down in
binary. But Brian DePalma does not rub our noses in the science. He just gets it right.
Dr. Strangelove and Battlestar Galactica
DVD reviews by Rick Norwood
Want to get movie fans arguing? Mention your preference for the wide-screen or for the full-screen
format. It has caused more words to be flung than almost anything else since Steven Seagal emerged as a movie star.
Rick is a fan of wide-screen movies. Without it, he's likely to give the film a pass.
But that changed when he watched DVD versions of Dr. Strangelove and Battlestar Galactica.
Bicentennial Man and The Galaxy Quest
movie reviews by Rick Norwood
You will want to see Bicentennial Man, it is not is good as you hoped, but it is certainly not as
bad as you've heard. As for the second movie,
remember Spaceballs? Everything that movie did wrong Galaxy Quest does right.
Top 10 SF/ Fantasy Films of 1999
compiled by Rick Norwood
Here are Rick's top 10 choices. They are rated entirely on the degree of
pleasure he felt while watching them. He doesn't discriminate between movies
or TV shows. To him, they're all "film."
Star Trek on DVD
reviewed by Rick Norwood
Star Trek is out on DVD, an ideal way for those too young to have seen the original to watch it,
and for those of us so old we haven't watched it in years to relive it. Rick has watched
"The Corbomite Maneuver" written by Jerry Sohl and gives us his thoughts.
Animal Farm
a TV movie review by Rick Norwood
The idea of an Animal Farm that is not shocking is a shocking idea. This
version is mildly amusing. The animatronics by Jim Henson's creature shop is entertaining.
Amusing! Entertaining! Eric Blair wrote his novel to shock England's intellectuals out of their
romanticized illusions about Stalin's communism. He would be deeply offended by a version of
his work that is designed to amuse and entertain. His wildcat has been declawed, his skunk
de-perfumed, to make suitable drawing room pets.
Final Destination
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Timing is everything in a film like this, and exaggeration is essential.
You know someone is going to die, but it has to come at the moment you least
expect it. Then, in retrospect, the moment has to seem exactly right. The
director and screenwriter are just over-the-top enough, while keeping the
characters sensible and sympathetic.
Star Trek on DVD
compiled by Rick Norwood
Star Trek is out on DVD, an ideal way for those too young to have seen the original to watch it,
and for those of us so old we haven't watched it in years to relive it. There are two disks so far,
with two more coming in October and two more in November.
The Haunting
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Don't let the critics scare you away. This is a good, old fashioned,
"things that go bump in the night," horror movie. It's not art house
horror; it's a Hollywood special effects movie -- with some very impressive effects.
The Blair Witch Project
a movie review by Rick Norwood
You've heard the buzz. You know it is a low budget horror film that is now
the cover story in Time magazine, a real rags-to-riches tale.
With no clear supernatural element, Rick places it in the "lost in the woods
with rednecks lurking" genre of horror, like Deliverance.
Wild Wild West
reviewed by Rick Norwood
Our Babylon 5.1 columnist gives us his view on this remake of the TV series.
It is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, written by Brent Maddock & S. S. Wilson and Jeffrey
Price & Peter S. Seaman, has excellent actors, good dialogue, and spectacular
special effects. Yet Rick found himself wondering, "Why am I not enjoying this more?"
Tarzan A Walt Disney Animated Film
reviewed by Rick Norwood
Our Babylon 5.1 columnist gives us his take on the new Tarzan movie. He
found that in spite of some liberties with the text, this movie is actually
much closer to the original book than any previous adaptation. It succeeds
in capturing Burroughs' mythic hero, fantasy setting, and larger than life
romance, and is true to Burroughs' main theme of noble beasts and brutal men.
The Phantom Menace written & directed by George Lucas
reviewed by Rick Norwood
Our Babylon 5.1 columnist gives us his take on the new Star Wars movie.
In The Phantom Menace you will see wonders you have never seen before.
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