Author: Bill Watters

“Star Wars” is a franchise which has always had the burden of its own legacy weighing down its installments. “Star Wars” (or “A New Hope” for its retconned name), and “The Empire Strikes Back” set a level of cinematic firsts and their pop-culture impact which still reverberates nearly a half a century later. After those, it’s been a cavalcade of hits and misses (and too often the latter). The long awaited “Obi-Wan Kenobi” has finally premiered on Disney+ and it’s the closest we’ve gotten to a series that, at least at its outset, belongs in among the better entries. Set…

Just as Star Wars Celebration was wrapping up its first day in Anaheim, CA. Just one day after the anniversary of the release of “Star Wars,” Disney+ has dropped “Obi-Wan Kenobi” several hours earlier than expected. As the dust settles on the first day of news from Disney and Lucasfilm’s biggest event gathering of the year, fans were planning to stay up til midnight pacific time to catch the drop of the new spin-off series. It spotlights the years spent by Obi-Wan (reprised by Ewan McGregor) on Tatooine after the events of “Revenge of the Sith,” and before “A New…

There are few films regularly worth it to brave the trek out to the theater. “Top Gun: Maverick” is definitely one of those.

Yes, AMC Theatres is charging more for “The Batman” tickets. This includes premium seats, ideal times, and a general increase.

Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Comics have struggled over the years to generate consistently good cinematic releases. With “The Batman” however, it seems like another entry has been added into the really good, even bordering on great, category. It’s a fresh spin on Gotham’s Dark Knight, and without falling into unearned hyperbole, the film might wind up at the least, as the second-best incarnation of the Capped Crusader. Yes, I’ll be the first to admit that I was skeptical of Robert Pattinson’s ability to carry off the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Someone who had become so iconic as a glittery…

“Marry Me” is probably one of the most honest showcases of Jennifer Lopez’s wide range of performance skills. While it’s the time of year that often finds romantic comedies (right before Valentine’s Day, which is oddly second place to the scores that come out over the Thanksgiving to Christmas – generally courtesy of the Hallmark Channel), over the past decade they tend to be more vapid and repetitive than interesting. Pleasant surprise “Marry Me” tries to keep it simple, heartfelt, and mixing in some sincere performances (and some of Lopez’s songs), with the result being an enjoyable success. A mix…

When Agatha Christy first published “Death on the Nile” in 1937, it was another of her successful and popular whodunits. Nine decades later, the film’s overall effect feels behind the times with pacing, and fails with attempts at crafting mystery. Directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by longtime Ridley Scott collaborator Michael Green, the film weaves an unearthly level of a beautiful sets and production design. Unfortunately for all of the eye candy and echos of Hollywood’s Golden Age, the story winds up guilty of being overly simplistic to be captivating. When watching earlier eras of similar films, it’s…

“Moonfall” is one of those epic disaster films that knows exactly how serious it’s trying to take itself. Which, to be clear, is not at all. When films think they’re being high-concept and really profound, yet as dumb as a brick, they’re painful to sit through. But then the whole premise is less goofy than most Q-Anon conspiracy theories- and it wear’s its heart on its sleeve- it’s hard not to find something charming about the whole effort. For this particular Roland Emmerich disaster scenario, The Moon is a massive artificial megastructure. Something has gone terribly wrong with it’s power…

Marvin Lee Aday, known by the stage name of Meat Loaf, has passed away according to his family via a statement from his longtime lawyer, Michael Greene. He is most famous for his “Bat Out of Hell” album, which still stands at the #4 position of highest selling albums of all time (with over 44 million albums sold worldwide). He is also recognizable from his role as Eddie in the 1974 midnight cult-classic of all cult-classics “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”Sources indicate his death was Covid-19 related. He had previously been quoted as saying “If I die, I die, but…

It’s wise that auteur director Joel Coen chose to lean into the stunning visuals of his adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth” rather than having much dialogue. His past works such as “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Fargo”, “Raising Arizona,” and “TheLadykillers” set him as having a distinct world building style and artistic eye. His black and white, ultra-high definition, tight close-ups, and minimalist environments are breathtaking. And then the cast begins to speak, and it runs jarringly off the rails. Shakespeare’s language takes a great deal of very specific experience and guidance to pull off. Now granted,…