Category: Film

Ready Player One Review - movie poster

Film

Ready Player One Review – Steven Spielberg’s adaptation shines, but only just!

Ready Player One Review I have just returned from viewing Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One. While it is better than I thought it would be – I fear it lacks the meaningful message it could have had. Ever since watching the first trailer I have been skeptical about the movie adaptation. I felt it looked like a silly CGI fest rather than a serious attempt at glorifying popular culture. Make no mistake – that is what the novel Ready Player One is – and that what made it so brilliant. Premise The premise for Ready Player One...

Pacific Rim Uprising - Jaegers

Film

Pacific Rim Uprising Review – John Boyega stars in a movie that isn’t bad

Pacific Rim Uprising Review Yesterday I made my way to the cinema to view Pacific Rim Uprising. I was nervous – I knew it wouldn’t be a great experience. I at least expected it to be a good popcorn movie that if for nothing else starred John Boyega. After an hour and fifty minutes I walked away feeling impressed with watching Jaegers and Kaiju beat each other to crap. That said – little of what I saw felt of consequence and in fact the movie does not take itself too serious. As directorial début of Steven S. DeKnight I congratulate...

Talia Storm at Ready Player One Premiere

Film

Ready Player One Premiere photos with Olivia Cooke and Hannah John-Kamen

Ready Player One Premiere Slowly the buzz surrounding Steven Spielberg’s new movie Ready Player One is growing. The adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel was on SciFiEmpire’s ‘most anticipated’ list. Yet, the poor initial reception of the trailers made it feel as though Ready Player One would be quickly forgotten. Yet, with less than a week to go until the release in the cinema things appear to be coming together. The initial reviews form the consensus that the movie is not bad – even if it is not superb. Some criticism is levelled at the faithfulness of the adaptation. But that will...

Film

Tomb Raider Review – Alicia Vikander reboots the franchise with a firm punching

Tomb Raider Review After a 15 year absence Tomb Raider is back on the big screen. Unlike the previous iteration the spotlight is not on elevating an actress into the role of sex symbol – fun that though it was. Instead movie director Roar Uthaug has remained faithful to the rebooted game franchise of 2013. Lara Croft – now portrayed by Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair and Jason Bourne) – is yet to become the titular character. This is Lara’s first adventure, one that will turn her into a hard-hitting adventure archeologist. The introduction firmly sets the stage. The viewer is introduced...

Black Panther movie

Film

Black Panther Review – Ryan Coogler succeeds with Afrofuturism

Black Panther Review Finally fans of Black Panther get the movie they always wanted. Personally I knew little about the character before his introduction into the MCU with Captain America Civil War. However, just like with Spider-Man it was a hugely successful introduction. Chadwick Boseman played the role of Crown Prince T’Challa (and then King) with charm, depth and elusiveness that endeared. Black Panther tells the story of what happened after the events of Civil War, after the death of T’Challa’s father – T’Chaka – at the hands of Helmut Zemo. Wakanda has been referenced before – notably in Age of Ultron as...

Film

Most Anticipated Sci-Fi Movies (2018 and beyond) – from Mute, to Dune to Neuromancer

Most Anticipated Sci-Fi Movies 2017 was among the best years for Science Fiction at the cinema. With movies such as The Last Jedi, Blade Runner 2049 and Logan. But what ‘great’ sci-fi movies can we look forward to from this point on. Below I have a compiled a list of movies that are in one stage of development or another. Some, such as Mute and Solo are practically finished while others such as Dune have only been announced. So here is the list of most anticipated sci-fi movies – in no particular order. Mute When director Duncan Jones released his...

A Happy New Year from SciFiEmpire.net

Computer Games / DVD / Film / Literature / TV-series

A Happy 2018 from SciFiEmpire.net, your website for all Sci-Fi news

A Happy 2018 from SciFiEmpire.net I want to wish every reader of SciFiEmpire.net a Happy 2018. I think it will be easier this year. Last year we had just lost Carrie Fisher and her mother and the election of Donald Trump was weighing on the minds of a lot of people. Yet, since then things have changed considerably. Looking back on 2017 And so 2017 has also come and gone. As I am growing older it feels like the years are passing by more quickly. Well, what a year 2017 has been. Donald Trump was in the news more often than...

Solo A Star Wars Story poster

Film

Preview of 2018 Science Fiction Movies with Solo, Jurassic World and many more

Preview of 2018 Science Fiction Movies 2017 was probably one of the best years in science fiction film – maybe ever. With movies such as Blade Runner 2049, The Last Jedi and Logan spoiling us with quality and controversy. But there was plenty more: Thor Ragnarok, Alien: Covenant, War for the Planet of the Apes and Valerian. Looking back it was just too much. But the question is. Can 2018 emulate that list? The short answer is no as there is no Blade Runner movie set for 2018. Also the Han Solo movie is not part of the sequel trilogy. So what...

Film / TV-series

Acting Outlaws 2018 Calendar – Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer get naked for charity

Acting Outlaws 2018 Calendar Acting Outlaws is a continuing charity organized by actresses Katee Sackhoff and Tricia Helfer. They use their risqué poses to collect money for a good cause – besides acting like genuine outlaws and driving motorcycles. Every year I cover the release of their upcoming calendar, this year is no different. However, it appears that the Acting Outlaws 2018 Calendar has been available on RedBubble.com for a while. It is now a self-updating offering. I especially like the colour version. Besides the calendar you can also purchase prints, mugs and pillows with the semi-naked bodies of either actress displayed...

Happy Thanksgiving wallpaper

Computer Games / DVD / Film / Literature / TV-series

Wishing everybody a Happy Thanksgiving + some Black Friday tips

Happy Thanksgiving I wanted to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving. I am sure that after all the roast turkey, pastries, marshmallows and drinks you will be looking to do something else. Perhaps even browse the internet to see what is worth your money on Black Friday. So what can you do during thanksgiving if all the fine dining is over? Well, if you need any persuasion in playing Super Mario Odyssey or Star Wars Battlefront 2 here are links to my reviews. Of course for Super Mario you will need a Nintendo Switch. I have uploaded an unboxing article just recently....

Justice-League-Batman-Wonder-Woman-and-the-Flash

Film

Justice League Review – a team of superheroes that cannot match The Avengers

Justice League Review So finally after many years of speculation the first Justice League movie has arrived. Well, there was Batman v Superman, and Wonder Woman before it. Nonetheless Justice League is meant to be for DC Comics what The Avengers is for Marvel. Sadly, it cannot match the quality of that other movie. If I was a cynical person I would say that Justice League was yet another failure on the part of Warner Brothers and director Zack Snyder. Now don’t get me wrong, it is not a bad movie, not by any means. But it is weak. In my...

Murder On the Orient Express Branagh Dench Ridley Dafoe Jacobi Pfeiffer Cruz

Film

Murder on the Orient Express Review – True Nostalgia with Kenneth Branagh

Murder on the Orient Express Review I am not certain why I wanted to see this movie when I first heard it was in production. I mean, I have seen practically every major adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel. Yet, there is plenty of allure. The arguably lurid backstory to the murder. Plus the wonderful décor of an express steam train traveling through the snowy landscapes of the Balkans. Murder on the Orient Express is a period drama that despite the grizzly circumstances of the story facilitates one experience for readers and viewers – nostalgia. This new adaptation by director Kenneth...

Computer Games / DVD / Film / Literature / TV-series

Happy Halloween – Greetings from the Afterlife

Happy Halloween Hello everybody. I hope you enjoy reading articles here on SciFiEmpire.net. I can see readers are especially interested in yesterday’s review of Berlin Station. Perhaps I will add the series to my regular line-up. As some readers may have noticed the release of posts has become irregular. I have been busy, since April I have a new job and I have also focused more time on writing a book on Deep Learning. Another reason the frequency of articles was reduced is because a lot of my favorite TV shows are over. Person of Interest ended last year, Dark Matter was cancelled...

Thor Ragnarok - Thor fights The Hulk

Film

Thor Ragnarok Review – Taika Waititi slam dunks the franchise to success

Thor Ragnarok Review Thor Ragnarok was not the movie I was expecting to see. After reading early reviews I concluded it would be the funniest movie in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Some referred to it as a masterpiece by director Taika Waititi. Personally I just wanted to see a proper sequel to a sub-franchise that had been on hold for four years and ended on a mixed note (Thor: The Dark World). For the remainder of this review I note: SPOILER ALERT! The movie starts where The Dark World finished, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) discovers from an unlikely source that Loki has been impersonating his father...

The Last Jedi Trailer - Mark Hamill as Jedi Master Luke Skywalker

Film

The Last Jedi trailer released – Does it reveal too much?

The Last Jedi trailer Finally the full movie trailer for Star Wars The Last Jedi has been released. After nearly 2 years director Rian Johnson is set to continue the official Sequel Trilogy. The release date is pinned for December 15th and the movie stars Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac and the late Carrie Fisher as the principal cast. So what did I think of the trailer? Well I think it revealed too much. I cannot be certain until I actually see The Last Jedi. But I do believe a SPOILER warning should have accompanied...

Film

Blade Runner 2049 Review Round Up – Denis manages to beat impossible expectations

Blade Runner 2049 Review Round Up The first Blade Runner 2049 reviews are in, and they give it glowing praise. Now, this is not a Blade Runner 2049 review. I won’t be seeing it until next Thursday (October 5th) and the general release is the day after. However, the movie has already been screened to journalists and reporters from the entertainment industry. Today their non-disclosure agreement ended. So here is what they have to say about Denis Villeneuve’s sequel to the original Blade Runner. The first review of note is from IGN – reviewer Scott Collura gave the movie a...