Forbidden Planet (1956) Review
Foundation of modern sci-fi cinema. The 10+ rating reflects honest evaluation of a film that holds up nearly seventy years after release despite the inevitable dating that any production from 1956 carries.
Genre: Adventure (Page 9)
ActionThe Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) Review
1960s retro-futurist aesthetic as protection against contemporary political fatigue. Galactus underdeveloped, period setting works.
ActionBlack Panther (2018) Review
Jordan's Killmonger is one of the franchise's best villains. Production and costume design earned Academy Awards.
ActionSpider-Man: No Way Home (2021) Review
Florence Pugh's Yelena carries another film that fails. Mental health as decorative content.
ActionAvengers: Endgame (2019) Review
The most contrived blockbuster of the decade. The 4 reflects honest evaluation of one of the most commercially successful films in cinema history.
ActionIron Man (2008) Review
Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, and the cave construction sequence that built a franchise. The casting decision that built Marvel Studios.
ActionThe Avengers (2012) Review
Joss Whedon's ensemble breakthrough, Tom Hiddleston's Loki, and the film that proved interconnected superhero cinema could function at scale. The 8.5 reflects honest evaluation of the film that proved interconnected superhero cinema could function at scale and the entry that…
AdventureHoney, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) Review
Rick Moranis at his peak, practical effects that put CGI to shame, and Disney back when it made original family adventures. The Blu-ray release is out of print and trades at collector prices.
AdventureStar Wars: A New Hope (1977) Review
A New Hope is the film that created modern blockbuster cinema, and it did so by being something very specific: a myth engine. Lucas wasn't writing charact.
AdventureThe Abyss (1989) Review
The production achievement of The Abyss is extraordinary even by Cameron's standards. The Deepcore rig is a superbly designed setting, confined, functional, full of the specific texture of working machinery that Cameron consistently brings to his industrial environments.
AdventureThe Empire Strikes Back (1980) Review
Empire earns its 8 by doing what no Star Wars film before or since has managed: it takes the universe seriously. Lucas's original Star Wars is a myth engine, archetypes, simple morality, the pleasure of a world with clear rules.
AdventureRings of Power Review
The landscapes occasionally earn a 7 in isolation. In Tolkien's legendarium, Galadriel is one of the most powerful beings in Middle-earth.