John T.L Hulstine

The Fortress is a movie that is seldom seen in the war genre. To explain, some war movies present glory, honor, and virtuous strength as values often equated to patriotic duty and on the other hand some war movies are about horror, confusion, and nihilism in military service. (Upcoming Spoiler Alert!) Regardless of which values are presented through the cinematic lens, many war movies are not about defeat. While the Fortress is not alone in historical dramas depicting war and defeat, it is amongst the finest. The story follows the perspectives of several characters of different social statures and of differing motivations. Ultimately The events of the movie force these characters to confront themselves and eachother, Often in scenes that are emotionally heart wrenching and superbly represented by the actors. The Fortress is well worth the time that it takes to watch, and the movie will almost certainly leave you with with some tears and pondering to do after you watch it.

Fantastic first few episodes! Having read the Silmarillion as well as the trilogy, I have greatly enjoyed the rings of power. A great strength of the series is its foundations in the world of Tolkein as there are many connections and references to events/characters throughout the series to other works of Tolkien. Also, I think the series can perceivably be interesting to someone who is unfamiliar with the Lord of the rings because the acting and the story telling is brilliant in the way it entices the viewer and immerses them in a world fantasy and adventure!

The Privilege presents an interesting and genuinely creepy story. The movie certainly provides viewer's with enticing and horrifying scenes which capture the imagination and at times your attention. However, I question the originality and creativity of the story, as it is almost identical to the plot and premise of Society directed by Brian Yuzna (1989). Both The Privilege and Society share so many similarities I think it raises some interesting questions as to how the Privilege was composed. Besides some disconcerting correlations between The Privilege and Society, the movie is generally alright. Certainly not the worst choice for a weekend movie but your time may be better spent with a different selection. One of the other weaknesses of the film is it's lack of character development, best exemplified between the shallow relationships of the main character and his friends and family. Not too mention, there is the common horror movie trope of a completely unnecessary sex scene which no doubt is meant to engross viewers but is another example of the movie's lack of originality and creativity.

First, I will lead off with some definite positives. There is a decent amount of scaries in this movie. Further while I wouldn't call this a positive, it provides the viewer with the premise of buble boy (the one with Jake Gyllenhaal) however Eli is a movie in which bubble boy goes to the hot place. As to not spoil the whole movie I won't elaborate on that much further (but seriously read between the lines and save yourself some time.) Next, I'll mention some critiques I have with the movie. While this certainly isn't unique to Eli, there is a somewhat disturbing trend in culture to assume that anyone with a physical or other perceived disability desires to be cured and this is not necessarily true as people can live fulfilling lives regardless of what popular culture thinks. While Eli may indirectly or directly touch on this, it certainly does no favor to cultural perceptions of disability in the sense that the protagonist (Big spoiler) is somewhat insidious in nature shall I say? And leave it at that. Lastly, the movie starts of strong but begins to get more and more contrived and somewhat lacking in it's story strength as it essentially looks like a different take on Silent Hill by it's end and given that, just stick to watching Silent Hill (the first one of course) and save yourself the time.

This last season of locke and key was largely disappointing. After watching it I felt that the season had been rushed and there were some heavily contrived plot elements that seemed more like sloppy t.v writing/storytelling rather than misguided attempts at portraying fantasy. Not unlike the last season of game of thrones, this last season of locke and key will deliver the storyline of your favorite characters in a confused jumble of plot holes, lack of character development, and strange twists and turns that give me the impression that the people responsible for the shows portrayal were happy to be done with it. Overall I would recommend just watching the past two seasons and pretending this one didn't happen.

It was decent movie to watch given the acting by the all star cast. However, it does not make any new avenues into the bank robbery/crime genre by delivering a movie which is filled with the usual tropes and the themes you can expect from octane crime thrillers: explosions, perfectly designed places to rob, more than a little machismo, car chasing, gun fights, no consequences, and poor representation and treatment of female characters. Overall, the movie is put together better than most gritty crime octanes and of course you might enjoy the usual twist at the end! 😉

It is rare to find a movie that does not have a least one redeemable quality, and for Hold the Dark that is a number of serene cinematic shots in the mountains. Other than that, Hold the Dark is a primary example of how Hollywood movies can be exploitive, nihilistic, and horribly written. So what is exploitive about Hold the dark? Well if you have a taste for egregious violence that is unrealistic and that adds no value to the story then you might be in for a treat while watching this movie. Not to mention you will be treated to scenes with awkward and unnecessary nudity that may have had the intention as being artsy symbolism but in my opinon is little more than a sexual exploitation of the actress. Furthermore I did not like the presentation Of the movies indigenous characters, who are at best treated to Hollywood's Tendency to create magical minority characters and or side kicks for the lead white character. That said it is regrettable that I have to give this movie a star. Disclaimer, If you happen to to have the misfortune of viewing this movie you will find out why the writing is bad and why the story is nihilistic and meaningless. Especially when you find yourself counting the minutes until it is over. Please enjoy yourself with some other more productive activity and not watch this travesty.