Category: Movies

BluRay, Horror, Movie Review, Movies, Suspense, Video Rental

TSJ Considers Telling a Truth … or Taking a Dare

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TSJ Reviews TRUTH OR DARE and Ruminates on Blumhouse Productions

FILM: TRUTH OR DARE
Stars: Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane
Director: Jeff Wadlow (KICK ASS 2, CRY WOLF, NEVER BACK DOWN)
Writers: Michael Reisz, Jillian Jacobs
Production Co.: Blumhouse Productions
Budget: $3 500 000

I purchased TRUTH OR DARE on Blu/DVD/Digital Download for roughly $25.00 at the local Best Buy. It’s how I watch many films. The price is right, especially when you’re getting both a physical copy along with a digital download. I picked TRUTH OR DARE this week not because of the title or concept, but more because of the producer’s track record.

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Comedy, Farce, Horror, Movie Review, Movies, Parody, The 1970's, The 1980's

TSJ Reviews CAMP DEATH III in 2D!

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Review:  CAMP DEATH III in 2D!

I had the opportunity to review this “camp” horror film (see what I did there?) by director Matt Frame and starring Dave Peniuk and Angela Galanopoulos. The film is currently making the horror festival circuit, and campy is actually an understatement when describing this horror farce. Crowdfunding helped with the movie’s $35 000 budget, and apparently the filmmakers spent four years working on it.

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Action, Agatha Christie, Character Development, ChiZine Publications, Horror, Inspirations, Interview, Movies, Radio, Science Fiction, Star Wars, The Rise of Oceania, The War Beneath, Thriller, Underwater Thriller, Writing

Radio Interview with TSJ on Writing Thrillers, Managing a Busy Life, STAR WARS, and THE WAR BENEATH

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Radio Interview with TSJ on 106.9 THE X’s Your Life, Your Way with Host Gail Barker

TSJ and Gail Barker, 8 August 2018

On 8 August I participated in the radio show YOUR LIFE, YOUR WAY at local radio station 106.9 THE X. The topics of conversation ranged from managing a busy life while also writing thrillers to my new underwater adventure THE WAR BENEATH. Gail Barker and I also discussed

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Action, Alien, Book Review, Character Development, Horror, Imposter Theme, Inspirations, James Cameron, John Carpenter, Movie Review, Movies, Mystery, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, The 1970's, Thriller, Writing

TSJ’s List of the Best Science Fiction Movies of the 1970’s

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The Best Science Fiction Movies of the 1970’s

I should clarify that a film’s presence on this blog post is entirely subjective based on my experiences growing up. These were my creative formative years, during which I was discovering genre books, television shows, and movies. I was born in 1970, so really the 80’s were my true introduction to Science Fiction Horror, Thriller and Adventure — books by Asimov and Crichton and films by Cameron, Spielberg, Carpenter, and Verhoeven — but the 1970’s played a huge role in my love for the genre. Detroit Channel 7 broadcast most of the films I saw. Many had poor effects, but the stories were so powerful and the actors so committed that the movies rose above the rest of the stories that were available at the time. The themes were relevant, the plots compelling and interesting, all the base human emotions like revenge and lust and greed and hate were on full display, they spoke of issues that people dealt with every day, and they featured powerful scores and incredible directing. They were gripping.

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BluRay, Character Development, Horror, Inspirations, John Carpenter, Movie Review, Movies, Steven Spielberg, Thriller, Writing

TSJ Reviews Shout! Factory’s BluRay Release of John Carpenter’s “Lost” Film SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME!

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TSJ Reviews John Carpenter’s “Lost” Film SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME!

Shout! Factory has been releasing John Carpenter films on Blu for a few years now. Each features additional special features that previous discs did not, many including interviews and brand new commentaries not on previous iterations. Their releases of THE THING and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK are real standouts in their Carpenter library.

Carpenter wrote and filmed SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME! for television broadcast in 1978. Two weeks after the ten-day filming concluded, he was off doing HALLOWEEN, a movie that blasted his career into the stratosphere. (See my articles on it here and here, and I spoke about it on a radio show here.)

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Action, Character Development, James Cameron, JJ Abrams, Movie Review, Movies, Steven Spielberg, Thriller

TSJ Reviews MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FALLOUT

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FALLOUT

TSJ’s Spoiler-free Review of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FALLOUT

Christopher McQuarrie has had quite the career as both a writer and director, and with MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — FALLOUT he has cemented himself as one of those next-level action directors, in the club with Spielberg, Cameron, Miller, Abrams, Nolan et al. His directing in FALLOUT is impeccable. The movie moves from one incredible set piece to another, with a good amount of exposition between them to keep the story leaning forward, and the result is

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Action, Character Development, Comics, Horror, Movie Review, Movies, Mystery, Thriller

The GLASS Trailer is Here

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GLASS — Coming January 2019

POSSIBLE SPOILERS about UNBREAKABLE and SPLIT below. You’ve been warned.

M. Knight Shyamalan exploded onto the movie scene with THE SIXTH SENSE in 1999. The movie was not just a hit; it was a pop culture phenomenon. He followed up the supernatural thriller with UNBREAKABLE in 2000, a movie many found even better than THE SIXTH SENSE. UNBREAKABLE featured an everyday man (Bruce Willis, playing David Dunn) who was the lone survivor of a train crash that killed hundreds.

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Action, Alien, Character Development, JJ Abrams, Movie Review, Movies, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Thriller

SF Author Timothy S. Johnston Reviews STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

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STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS — A Review by Timothy S. Johnston

(Previously Published at TrekWeb on 18 May 2013)

Format: Digital 2D
Studio: Paramount
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof

Rating of STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: 9/10
Rating of STAR TREK (2009): 9.5/10

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Action, Horror, Movie Review, Movies, Science Fiction, Steven Spielberg, The 1990's, Thriller

The First Time I Saw JURASSIC PARK

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The First Time I Saw JURASSIC PARK

It’s hard to believe that JURASSIC PARK was released 25 years ago this week. I still remember seeing it at the Galleria. My friend Adam turned to me as the lights went down and said, “So what’s this film about?” He had no idea. It was a Friday night and our group of friends always hung out on the weekends.

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Horror, Inspirations, John Carpenter, Movies, Thriller, Writing

A Look at the New HALLOWEEN Trailer

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A Look at the New HALLOWEEN Trailer

Michael Myers is back.

He’s one of the greatest slasher villains of all time and featured in a franchise that co-created the genre. (Many also give credit to BLACK CHRISTMAS in 1974.) John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN (1978) could be considered one of the most successful independent films ever. Made on a budget of only $375 000, it earned $70 000 000 at the box office the year it was released and spawned a series that currently consists of eleven films. John Carpenter really hit it out of the ballpark and he exploded onto the horror scene and never looked back. (I spoke on a radio show about my love for this film and how it inspired me here.) Of particular note was the soundtrack that he created out of desperation:  they didn’t have a budget to hire someone to score the film, so Carpenter did it himself.

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