Brain Dead and Loving it!

Well, it comes as no huge surprise that Universal's DARK UNIVERSE is, as of this writing, looking very much more dead than alive. Whether it is brought back to life through Dr. Frankenstein's Tesla coils, or by a fine drink of hemoglobin, still remains to be seen. According to The Hollywood Reporter , ''Writer-producers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan, who were hired as the monster universe architects, have departed the franchise, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. Kurtzman, whose deal with Universal lapsed in September, is focusing on television (he's an executive producer on CBS All Access' Star Trek: Discovery, and his overall deal with CBS involves more than a half-dozen shows), while Morgan has returned to the Fast and Furious franchise and is writing a spinoff for Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.'' While I was somewhat curious to see the talented Bill Condon return to his GODS AND MONSTERS territory with a retelling of THE BR...

A quick note before I begin. This review may contain mild spoilers, but nothing that wasn't hinted in the trailers for the film. However, if you want to avoid having some surprises revealed, you may just want to avoid any reviews in the first place. ;) Thor has never been the easiest character to integrate in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a world dominated by the science and reason of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, we now had to jump into a land of trolls, giants and Gods. The contrast seemed hard to digest, but the makers of the first THOR movie had the brilliant idea to adhere to Arthur C. Clarke's third law : ''Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Hence, Asgard is not as much a realm of Gods, but a race of aliens that have been mistaken for Gods in their early Earthly visits.  Something also pretty much right out of the pages of Erich Von Daniken's CHARIOTS OF THE GODS . A brilliant move. Kenneth Branagh  was ...

I've always been a fan of unproduced films. Features that have, for better or for worse, remained on the shelves, or even never left the pre-production stage. They may turn out to be insane ideas like A Salvador Dali directed Marx Brothers movie ( Giraffes on horseback salads ) or an absurd cop film starring Nicolas Cage and Robin Williams ( The Defective Detective by Terry Gilliam ).  It could be an abandoned historical drama by Paul Verhoeven ( Crusade with Arnold) or the improbable sequel to Ridley Scott's GLADIATOR (Still starring Russell Crowe!!???). Or even unfortunate and misguided attempts at adapting Comic Books to the big screen (one can't help thinking of the abandoned Tim Burton SUPERMAN LIVES! with Nicolas Cage or the Albert Pyun or James Cameron SPIDER-MAN films). I love them all!  And then there are the movie posters parodies. Industrious and talented fans and artists (like Sean Hertter who created a lot of the posters below ) create an alternate hist...