1975 was a big year in the film industry. The golden era was over and films were in a state of nostalgic throwback to the 1950s, with homages and remakes rife. Audiences in general were dwindling and a shake-up was needed. This came in the summer from the mind of Steven Spielberg. His film Jaws, the first ever summer blockbuster, and such a commercial and critical success that … [Read more...]
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) review by That Film Guy
After the staggering and somewhat unexpected success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, two sequels were immediately green-lit to complete a trilogy. The first of them, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was released in 2006 and reunited the original cast with director Gore Verbinski and become one of the highest-grossing films of all time. … [Read more...]
Review: The Avengers (2012)
Ever since Iron Man was released in 2008, Marvel have been building toward a huge ensemble film called The Avengers. Members of SHIELD (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), notably Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), have appeared in all of the Marvel films involved, including Captain America: The First Avenger, The … [Read more...]
Review: Iron Man 2 (2010)
When Iron Man burst onto cinema screens in 2008, it represented a something of a gamble. Lacking the cultural popularity of Spider-Man or Batman, 'ol' shellhead' was a B-List character and casting Robert Downey Jr. in the role seemed like just as much of a gamble. Fortunately for Marvel and director Jon Favreau it paid off and Iron Man became a huge hit. Cue sequel. Reuniting … [Read more...]
Review: Battleship (2012)
From director Peter Berg and 'The toy company that bought you Transformers' comes the latest toy-to-film adaptation, Battleship. Like Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Battleship is a CG-heavy, $200m blockbuster. It casts John Carter lead Taylor Kitsch in his second blockbuster lead of 2012 and marks the film debut of pop sensation Rihanna. It is based on the extremely popular … [Read more...]
Review: Titanic (1997)
James Cameron, before the release of Titanic, was considered one of the world's most daring action film-makers. His previous canon of work, including The Abyss, Aliens, True Lies and the first two Terminator films made the world stand up and pay attention to a man whose vision of action and adventure ranked with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Then he announced he was … [Read more...]
Review: John Carter (2012)
John Carter is the latest big blockbuster release from Disney. Directed by Andrew Stanton of Pixar fame it attempts to adapt the legendary Edgar Rice Burrough's novel The Princess of Mars. The Princess of Mars and all subsequent John Carter novels have helped shape the cultural impact of science-fiction and without this series there would be no Star Wars or Avatar. All of these … [Read more...]
Review: Ghost Rider (2007)
After the explosion of comic book films that followed the incredible success of Superman: The Movie, Batman and Spider-Man, a lot of lesser known characters had their stories adapted to the silver screen. One such film, released in 2007 was Ghost-Rider, starring Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, the man who sold his soul to the Devil to save his father's life and became the demon … [Read more...]
Review: Transformers (2007)
The original Transformers cartoon is widely considered a classic in children's programming. The Transformers animated film was a success among fans, so it's a surprise a live action film took this long. But in 2007, we got Transformers, a high-budget action flick directed by the manifestation of everything wrong with Hollywood, Michael Bay. His CV isn't exactly full of … [Read more...]
Review: Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
[pullquote cite="" type="left, right"][amazon text=Amazon&template=carousel&chan=that film guy&asin=B00DDRP3RW][/pullquote] Alone, on Christmas, in a strange city. It's the sequel to the classic Christmas caper involving a young boy forgotten by his family when leaving for Christmas vacation in France. Home Alone 2 (1992) follows the same storyline as the original, … [Read more...]