John Carpenter is my favorite director.
I think that’s pretty obvious if you’re familiar with my blog, Life After Gateway. My post “The Greatest Trifectas in Film History” made it clear that I believe him to be a visionary director whose massive appeal in the SF genre is on par with Cameron, Spielberg, and Abrams.
Studio: Perfect World, 87North Productions
Director: Ilya Naishuller
Writer: Derek Kolstad
Stars: Bob Odenkirk, Connie Nielson, Christopher Lloyd, Aleksei Serebryakov, RZA, Michael Ironside
Platform: Any Video on Demand service
Similar: John Wick, Kickass
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Company: FilmNation Entertainment
Director: Dominic Cooke
Writer: Tom O’Connor
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan
Yesterday, Paramount Pictures announced a shuffling of their tentpole films on their upcoming slate. Some of the movies include Top Gun 2, Mission Impossible 7, and Dungeons & Dragons. Embedded in the announcement was a mention of an “Untitled Star Trek” film, to be released on June 9, 2023 and produced by JJ Abrams.
The Most Iconic Book Covers in the Thriller/Suspense/SF GenresI’ve recently been re-reading some classic novels from my younger days, and I realized that some of their covers might now be considered iconic — some so notable that the movie marketing machines actually copied the book cover, further cementing the image in our minds. Here are some of those books.
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.
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.
I recently published a blog piece celebrating my fiftieth year on the planet. In the article, I wrote about the books I read as a child under the age of ten. The intention was twofold: to inform people about the books that inspired a young boy to take on the monumental goal of writing science fiction thrillers (a task which took decades to achieve), and to implore parents to always buy books for their children.
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.