Adam Selvidge's Website Blog
What Dreams May Come: Directed by Vincent Ward. With Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Annabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow. Chris Nielsen dies in an accident, and enters Heaven. But when he discovers that his beloved wife Annie has killed herself out of grief over the loss, he embarks on an afterlife adventure to reunite with her. Another stop along my way to officially watching all of Robin’s films, “What Dreams May Come” has always been a rough film for me to watch, as the topics strike a little to close to home for my comfort. Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra...
Violent Night: Directed by Tommy Wirkola. With David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Beverly D’Angelo, Alex Hassell. When a group of mercenaries attack the estate of a wealthy family, Santa Claus must step in to save the day (and Christmas). “I know you’re an idiot, but don’t be an idiot out loud.” John Leguizamo as bad guy is one of the best parts of this great holiday film filled with christmas related violence and a back story for Kringle that’s unique to me. All the pieces of the movie work well together and even the goofy / sappy stuff plays well. Buy...
God of War: Directed by David Jaffe, Greg Tiernan. With Linda Hunt, Terrence ‘T.C.’ Carson, Carole Ruggier, Steve Blum. After 10 years of endless nightmares and servitude to the gods of Olympus, Kratos is assigned with a final task, to kill Ares, the God of War. Part of the “God of Wars Saga” HD rerelease of the game, this is a fun jaunt into a quasi Greek mythology that closely aligns with what was actually in the stories, but deviates enough that I it warrants explaining that this isn’t exactly what was in those great stories. It’s good all on...
There are many myths our culture perpetuates about domestic cats: they live longer indoors, sleep all day, are easy and low-maintenance pets, and can’t be train A well written book, if a little light on solutions or suggestions, with plenty of great pictures of cats. I believe they’ve coined a phrase in “Felis interius” to refer to cats that are born inside, then live their entire lives within walls. They’re assertion, and one that I agree with, is that cats have always been semi tamed animals that made a choice to live with humans due to our associated comforts and...
300: Rise of an Empire: Directed by Noam Murro. With Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Hans Matheson. Greek general Themistocles of Athens leads the naval charge against invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and Artemisia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy. This is a prequel / sidequel / sequel to “300”, but it misses most of the great things of the first movie and doesn’t really add much to the awesome stuff that came from the source material. In this movie, everyone are apparently made of water balloons filled with blood, just waiting for the slightest scratch to...
Heading for Heaven: Directed by Lewis D. Collins. With Stuart Erwin, Glenda Farrell, Russ Vincent, Irene Ryan. Stuart Erwin plays a small-town real estate agent who owns much property which, for several generations, has failed to sell even while the town has grown. It becomes known, except to Erwin, that the property is being considered for the new airport and the owner will make a small fortune. He is swarmed upon by an unscrupulous swami (Russ Vincent)and his equally-crooked business partner, and Erwin is soon convinced that he hasn’t long to live. With his life a mess, he leaves home...
Annihilation: Directed by Alex Garland. With Natalie Portman, Benedict Wong, Sonoya Mizuno, David Gyasi. A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don’t apply. I remember seeing this film in the theater alone and it absolutely blew my mind, particularly the final 20 minutes in the light house. The 4k/HDR disk doesn’t disappoint and is worth every penny that someone spent to give it to me as a gift. Buy On Amazon!
Strange World: Directed by Don Hall, Qui Nguyen. With Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union. The legendary Clades are a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest and most crucial mission. I remember seeing a few trailers for this in front of movies at the theater, but other than that, there was a significant lack of marketing, which is a damn shame, as this is a fun and unique take on a hilarious concept that opens all sorts of questions about eh universe that these characters all live in. It’s on D+ now, so if...
Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Directed by Jeff Fowler. With James Marsden, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter. When the manic Dr Robotnik returns to Earth with a new ally, Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic and his new friend Tails is all that stands in their way. Still a fun movie with some minor issues, none of which are show stoppers. I have some major complaints about what’s going on with the HDR in the movie, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s some weird interaction between my streaming device (xbox one this time) or my television. I still smile like a...
Betty White: First Lady of Television: Directed by Steve Boettcher. With Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Sandra Bullock, Tim Conway. A look at Betty White’s life and career features behind-the-scenes clips of her work on television and comments from her friends and co-stars. One of the last films that I watched in 2022, but here I am saying I watched it during 2023. It’s a great look bad at a wonderful career, one that I didn’t know spanned as many tv series and decades as it did. I also didn’t know that the entire seven seasons of the Mary Tyler Moore...
