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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
JOHNNY MNEMONIC
A film that was forecast to be a revolutionary melding of cyberpunk and mainstream sensibilities, but is best viewed nowadays as a dry run for THE MATRIX
A KARATE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE
A film whose “qualities” are summed up by its title
A VERY NUTTY CHRISTMAS
One of the weirder Lifetime movies I’ve seen, offering a cockeyed inversion of THE NUTCRACKER and a message that fully lives up to the “nutty” designation: that true holiday cheer is possible only through the intercession of a doll in human form
MERRY CHRISTMAS
A Bollywood Christmas movie with everything you’d expect
STAND BY ME
In remembering the recently deceased Rob Reiner, I’ll be taking the good with the bad. Here’s the good…
PFITZ
A witty and concise exercise in postmodern whimsy involving an imaginary city and a very real murder
KATIE
In my view the least of Michael McDowell’s novels, although KATIE contains some good, and on occasion great, elements
STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (Book)
One of the more famous late Twentieth Century movie novelizations was this prose rendering of the first STAR TREK feature, credited to series’ creator Gene Roddenberry
PETER IBBETSON
A 19th Century classic (of sorts) that served as a direct forerunner to fantasy narratives ranging from THE STAR ROVER to SOMEWHERE IN TIME
THE MEN IN THE JUNGLE
A nasty ‘Nam allegory by sci fi legend Norman Spinrad
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME BE MYSELF
Here’s something that’s been a long time coming: a fully authorized biography of the late African American actor/comedian/filmmaker Rudy Ray Moore
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST AND THE SAVAGE CINEMA OF RUGGERO DEODATO
The only English language book dedicated solely to the recently deceased Ruggero Deodato.
JOHN KOBAL PRESENTS THE TOP 100 MOVIES
Exactly what the title promises: a listing of the 100 “best” movies ever, put together by the Canadian author and archivist John Kobal
THE UNSEEN FORCE: THE FILMS OF SAM RAIMI
The first book devoted entirely to the life and films of Sam Raimi
DEAN KOONTZ: A WRITER’S BIOGRAPHY
Katherine Ramsland, who’s best known for authoring several nonfiction books about Anne Rice, here turns her sights on another bestselling genre novelist: Dean Koontz
Welcome Home to the Faustian Penitentiary, Away from Emma Mae and the Street Wars
About the late blaxploitaiton auteur Jamaa Fanaka, who combined urban grit and sheer weirdness
Norman Jewison: 1926-2024
Eulogizing “Canada’s greatest director”
David J. Skal: 1952-2024
The January 1, 2024 demise of David John Skal, whose car was struck by a drunk driver in Glendale, CA, started off 2024 on a tragic note
2023: Bedlam in Print
Looking back over last year’s books!
2023: The Year in Bedlam
The latest installment of my annual overview of the previous year’s noteworthy film releases