“Diary of a Country Priest” Brandon Films, 1951 Starring: Claude Laydu, Andre Guibert, Marie-Monique Arkell Director: Robert Bresson The plot: An awkward young priest (Laydu)...
Film
Ex Machina
Ex Machina” is a total stealth bomb. It sneaks up on you, introducing a lot of familiar concepts about the potential impact of the development...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“Super Mario Brothers 3” (Nintendo, 1988) “Frostbite” (Activision, 1983) “Ecco the Dolphin” (Sega, 1992) It’s summertime! School? Out. Temperatures? Rising. Swimmin’ hole? Still pretty cold...
Inside Out
One of the cardinal rules of storytelling is “Show, don’t tell.” The idea is that telling your audience a character is depressed is much less...
Video Vault
“Straw Dogs” ABC Pictures, 1971 Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, David Warner Directed by: Sam Peckinpah The plot: American college professor David Sumner (Hoffman) is...
Jurassic World
Few things are more excruciating than watching a half-wit attempt to act smart. It’d be bad enough if it was just Chris Pratt we were...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“Excitebike” (Nintendo, 1985) “Super Hang-On” (Sega, 1987) They never tell you to beware the ides of June. But they should. Every year, like shiny metal...
Roar
1981, rated PG, 102 minutes Pop quiz, hotshot: Your family’s trapped in a plywood shack surrounded by 100 lions. When the lions get hungry,...
Video Vault: Don’t Look Now
“Don’t Look Now” British Lion Films, 1973 Starring: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania Directed by: Nicolas Roeg The plot: After the accidental...
Eight-Bit Junkyard: Altered Beast
“Altered Beast” (Sega, 1988) I was a Roman centurion. I’m dead now. But death is no hurdle for the almighty Zeus. From the dark depths...
Ioka’s future still in doubt
The Ioka theater in downtown Exeter celebrates its 100th birthday this year, but it may have to keep waiting for its second act to begin....
Local screenwriter wins Nashville competition
Dover screenwriter Alfred Thomas Catalfo and Morgan Webster Dudley walked away with top honors earlier this month at the 2015 Nashville Film Festival Screenwriting Competition...
Video Vault
“Alice in Wonderland” 20th Century-Fox, 1976 Starring: Kristine DeBell, Larry Gelman, Bradford Armdexter Director: Bud Townsend The plot: This X-rated musical comedy opens when Alice...
Mad Max: Fury Road
There are many valid reasons “Mad Max: Fury Road” may not be the movie for you. In-world continuity is very important to you. You’ll need...
The final pitch
and the Golden Age of Television Mad Men” concluded its storied run on May 17 after 92 episodes, thousands of cigarettes, hundreds of cocktails,...
The D Train
In “The D Train,” Jack Black stars as Dan Landsman, a sad-sack loser living in the suburbs of Pittsburgh who’s in charge of his high...
Video Vault
“What’s Up, Doc?” Warner Brothers, 1972 Starring: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, John Hillerman, Liam Dunn Director: Peter Bogdanovich The...
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Consider the Hulkbuster. This latest version of Iron Man-Brand Power Armor is huge and heavy and metal, but not without some surprising degree of agility....
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“Gauntlet” (Atari, 1985) “Metroid”(Nintendo, 1986) Video games have never been known for their realistic portrayals of women. This isn’t up for debate. Their portrayals of...
True Story
In movies, the phrase “based on actual events” is always slippery. There’s a lot of distance between those actual events and the film that ultimately...
Video Vault
“Swept Away” Medusa Distribuzione, 1974 Starring: Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato Director: Lina Wertmuller The plot: Raffaella (Melato), an immensely wealthy woman, is yachting with friends...
Marvel’s Daredevil
Netflix continues to keep its ever-growing number of subscribers excited and engaged with its eclectic, ready-to-binge offerings. High-caliber talent, short seasons, and genre unpredictability are...
Eight-Bit Junkyard
“Kid Niki: Radical Ninja” (Data East, 1987) The summer between third and fourth grade, I made two presumably simple follicular requests of my mother. The...
It Follows
The new horror film “It Follows” was inspired partly by one of writer/director David Robert Mitchell’s recurring dreams. In the dreams, Mitchell has said in...
Video Vault
“Salome’s Last Dance” Vestron Pictures, 1988 Starring: Stratford Johns, Imogen Millais-Scott, Nickolas Grace, Douglas Hodge, Glenda Jackson Director: Ken Russell The plot: Oscar Wilde (Grace),...