Movie #40 of 2026: Jurassic Park (1993) This is very close to a perfect movie, and any nitpicks I could raise are probably tediously familiar at this point. (Dr. Sattler and Lex are fine as characters, but they barely interact and the human cast is otherwise entirely male. It’s also rather white, with Samuel L. …
Tag Archives: rewatch
Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Movie #38 of 2026: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) Jack Sparrow was the major breakout character of the original Pirates of the Caribbean film, and whether rightly or not, it’s clear that Disney doesn’t believe the resulting franchise could work without him. Hence this sequel to the initial trilogy, which cuts loose …
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Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
Movie #37 of 2026: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) I saw this movie on opening night, came home, and proceeded to write over a thousand words in my livejournal complaining about its various plot holes. (Don’t worry, I’ll spare you this time.) I’m slightly more sympathetic to the thing on today’s rewatch, …
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TV Review: Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka, season 1
TV #35 of 2026: Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka, season 1 Doctor Who’s so-called wilderness years of 1989-2005 saw a wide range of possible story continuations both on and off the screen, some more official (either contemporarily or in hindsight) than others. This six-part webcast falls directly in the middle of that continuum — …
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Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
Movie #36 of 2026: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) This Pirates sequel runs on an engine of pure vibes, offering a shallow but satisfying return to the historical fantasy world of its predecessor (and to a lesser extent, the ever-more-distant theme park attraction that inspired it). Don’t get me wrong: this is …
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Movie Review: Sinners (2025)
Movie #35 of 2026: Sinners (2025) [Note: this is an updated version of my review from 2025.] Still just a phenomenal historical horror piece, and one that takes its sweet time establishing the setting and the characters before finally unveiling the vampiric threat. In fact, I originally found that initial stage of the film so …
Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Movie #34 of 2026: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Disney hasn’t always had the best luck turning its theme park attractions into movies, but the studio struck rare gold with this early 2000s smash hit, which launched a franchise and significantly revitalized its star Johnny Depp’s career. It used …
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Movie Review: Doctor Who (1996)
Movie #33 of 2026: Doctor Who (1996) Objectively, there’s a lot about this TV movie — a continuation of the Classic Doctor Who run of 1963-1989 and failed pilot for further onscreen adventures — that doesn’t really work. The technobabble plot is difficult to follow and crams in unexplained references to things like Daleks that …
Movie Review: Clerks II (2006)
Movie #30 of 2026: Clerks II (2006) Probably nobody’s favorite Kevin Smith picture, but a perfectly cromulent film nonetheless. It’s a worthy follow-up to the writer-director’s 1994 debut, bringing back the characters of Dante and Randal for a repeat round of dead-end drudgery while they indulge in existential crises and vulgarity respectively in front of …
Movie Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
Movie #29 of 2026: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) It should be no surprise that a movie built around the stoner comic relief from Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse turns out to be so slapsticky and crude, and if you can manage to get on that level, there are genuine laughs to be found …
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