Title: Greenland
Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, Scott Glenn
Director: Ric Roman Waugh (Angel has Fallen)
Writer: Chris Sparling
Runtime: 119 minutes
Production Company: STX Films
Streamer: AMAZON PRIME
Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?This is an argument that has cavitated through every holiday season since 1988. I am hoping to put it to rest here, although obviously I realize there are always those out there who will continue to hold out and deny reality.
Article updated December 2024.
This list is likely to change from year to year, so take it with a grain of salt. But if you’re looking for a more grown up slant to your Christmas holiday season, try one or more of these films.
TSJ on THE FLY Starring Vincent PriceMovie: THE FLY (1958)
Starring: Vincent Price, David Hedison, Patricia Owens
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Sequels: RETURN OF THE FLY, CURSE OF THE FLY, THE FLY, THE FLY II
Writer: George Langelaan (original story in Playboy)
Screenplay: James Clavell! (THE FLY was his first filmed screenplay)
During this Coronavirus outbreak, I took the opportunity to watch the original film THE FLY with my 12 year old daughter. We’re shuttered inside, and while I spend a great deal of my time writing, we’re also watching a lot of movies, streaming shows, and playing games. THE FLY is a wonderful “horror” film from the 1950’s, part of my new BluRay package of FLY films, and has an important message for all content creators and creative writers.
Title: In the Shadow of the Moon
Director: Jim Mickle
Studio/Distributor: Netflix
Writers: Gregory Weidman, Geoffrey Tock
Starring: Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Bokeem Woodbine (Spider Man: Homecoming), Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Short Description: A Philadelphia police detective hunts a time-traveling serial killer.
Title: Ad Astra (To the Stars)
Director: James Gray (The Lost City of Z, We Own the Night)
Writers: James Gray, Ethan Gross
Company: Twentieth Century Fox, Plan B
Stars: Brad Pitt, Donald Sutherland, Tommy Lee Jones
Starring: Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard, Emily Watson, Paul Ritter
Company: HBO
Running Time: 330 minutes
Created by: Craig Mazin
“A deep sea diver is stranded on the seabed with 5 minutes of oxygen and no hope of rescue. With access to amazing archive this is the story of one man’s impossible fight for survival.” — from IMDB
This week, speculative fiction blog Aurelia Leo published an article I wrote on legendary SF director John Carpenter. Over the decades I’ve searched out any property I could find that Carpenter has directed. Find my thoughts on many of his SF films at the link, including THEY LIVE, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, THE THING, and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.
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Over at Speculative Chic they’ve posted an article I wrote about the Science Fiction books and movies that I love most featuring the oceans. They helped inspire me to write THE WAR BENEATH. Some of them are novels from the tail end of the Golden Age of Science Fiction.