TSJ Reviews The Courier
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Company: FilmNation Entertainment
Director: Dominic Cooke
Writer: Tom O’Connor
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan
Category: Steven Spielberg
Book Cover, Inspirations, Movies, Science Fiction, Steven Spielberg, Suspense, Technology, TechnoThriller, The 1970's, The 1980's, The 1990's, Thriller
The Most Iconic Book Covers in the Thriller/Suspense/SF Genres
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The Most Iconic Book Covers in the Thriller/Suspense/SF Genres
I’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.
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TSJ’s “My Favorite Things Related to the Oceans”
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.
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.
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.)
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
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.
Action, Alien, Horror, Inspirations, James Cameron, John McTiernan, Movie Review, Movies, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Steven Spielberg, The Terminator, Thriller
The Best Movie Sequels of All Time
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The Best Movie Sequels of All Time
Before I begin, here are a few basic facts about me that you might already know by now:
I love movies.
I love genre movies — thrillers, action, adventure, horror, science fiction.
I love sagas, series, and trilogies. Call them what you want; I love to revisit characters and storylines that captivated my attention in the first film.
Action, Alien, Horror, Inspirations, James Cameron, John Carpenter, John McTiernan, Movie Review, Movies, Science Fiction, Steven Spielberg, The Terminator, The Thing, Thriller, Writing
The Greatest Trifectas in Film History
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The Greatest Trifectas in (Recent) Film History by TSJ
While writing the blog entry “Where Has the Character-Driven Action Film Gone?” (found here) I mentioned the idea of a trifecta — or “triple” — in film history. There are few directors who can create successful film after successful film. Having one critical and commercial hit is difficult enough. Having two in a row is even harder. And three? Nearly unheard of.
I decided to create a list of the greatest triples in film history. Even the concept seemed absurd, however — what gives me the right to create such a list? Who am I to say one director created a “better” trifecta than another? Moreover, how does one define success or failure in the creative/artistic industry? Sometimes a box office hit can be a critical failure, or vice versa. Well, to be blunt, this is my blog. I’ll write what I want. However, to identify triples and narrow the field it was necessary to create a list of criteria that I would follow.
Book Review, Movies, Science Fiction, Steven Spielberg, Video Games
TSJ Reviews the Novel READY PLAYER ONE by Ernie Cline
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Here’s a #short #book #review for you this morning:
Almost two years ago now I first picked up READY PLAYER ONE by @erniecline. I couldn’t put it down. Took me three days to finish. Reality intervened, work and life interrupted a few times, but when I wasn’t reading I was doing everything I could to get back to that book. It’s rare that a novel does this to me, but it’s happened before. The previous one that I recall having the same effect was probably THE FOREVER WAR by Joe Haldeman.