Perhaps the definitive modern action movie, and also maybe the one with the action sequences that I have loved most over the years, which somehow also has literally many treatises’ worth of material going on just below the surface.
Category Archives: Franchise movies
NEW MOVIE TIME CAPSULE!
Our new feature has our capsule thoughts on new movies in theaters and on streaming, in this case featuring three great women directors and also a new/old take on Shakespeare
HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE (2001)
Our film odyssey continues with the first film in a new kind of movie franchise, based on a wildly popular book series about wizard school.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
The last of the 2007 AFI Top 100 for us to cover is also an all-time favorite of mine. All of my dogs are named after its characters. But how to parse whether one of the parts of what is basically one long three-part movie is one of the best films of all time on its own?
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001)
These movie about LA street racers stealing electronics is better than it has any right to be, by which I mean it should truly terrible and is mostly fine. Also it somehow spawned a multi-billion dollar franchise.
DRACULA (1931)
The vampire movie from which all others are descended, Bela Lugosi’s very specific performance and many creepy gothic visuals overcome its period limitations.
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
The most surreal and highbrow of slasher movies, it jumpstarted a major studio and gave the world Johnny Depp exploding into a fountain of blood.
DR. NO (1962)
With the 25th James Bond movie releasing today, we revisit the very first, which is much slower but does find the character himself fully formed.
JURASSIC PARK (1993)
Perhaps the best of the Steven Spielberg popcorn movies, with dinosaur effects that incredibly still hold up 28 years later.
ALIENS (1986)
A bombastic, action-packed sequel that has basically nothing in common with its tense, contained thriller of a predecessor, and yet both are great movies in their own way.
Movie Valhalla 