Adam Selvidge's Website Blog
Avatar: Directed by James Cameron. With Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang. A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. Re-released to theaters for 2022 to prep people for the December 2022 release of the sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water”. I’ve always thought this was a solid film, though the “white savior” parts of the film are getting more and more difficult to ignore and appreciate. Something interesting about this release is that they upframed it from the...
Collecting the first outing of Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer and his girlfriend Betty. With an introduction by Harlan Ellison. Originally published in monthly comic format by Pacific Comics, 1982. From the forward that Ellison gives, it is obvious that Harlan Ellison and Dave Stevens had a close relationship, he heaps a large helping of well deserved praise on Stevens’ work. I may have read all these stories before, as I’ve been trying to get the entire run of appearances of the character, which in theory isn’t going to be very difficult. Not many people are in a rush to get...
Pleasure: Directed by Ninja Thyberg. With Sofia Kappel, Zelda Morrison, Evelyn Claire, Chris Cock. Bella Cherry arrives in Los Angeles with dreams of becoming an adult film star, but she soon learns that fame won’t come easy as she harnesses her ambition and cunning to rise to the top of this mesmerizing and singular world. There’s a old familiar saying that goes something like “I’ll know it’s porn when I see it” and while there’s porn in this film, I wouldn’t classify it as pornographic. It’s a great look into the modern porn industry and Sofia Kappel does a great...
DC League of Super-Pets: Directed by Jared Stern, Sam J. Levine. With Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski. Krypto the Super-Dog and Superman are inseparable best friends, sharing the same superpowers and fighting crime side by side in Metropolis. However, Krypto must master his own powers for a rescue mission when Superman is kidnapped. All the marketing pushed Johnson and Hart, for all the obvious reasons, those guys are super marketable and never fail to please, but I’m here to tell you their roles in “DC League of Super-Pets” they take an absolute backseat to Kate McKinnon’s fantastic...
Live Nude Girls Unite!: Directed by Vicky Funari, Julia Query. With Julia Query, Jane, Siobhan Brooks, Kristina. Documentary look at the 1996-97 effort of the dancers and support staff at a San Francisco peep show, The Lusty Lady, to unionize. Angered by arbitrary and race-based wage policies, customers’ surreptitious video cameras, and no paid sick days or holidays, the dancers get help from the Service Employees International local and enter protracted bargaining with the union-busting law firm that management hires. We see the women work, sort out their demands, and go through the difficulties of bargaining. The narrator is Julia...
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: Directed by Norman Z. McLeod. With Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Boris Karloff, Fay Bainter. A clumsy daydreamer gets caught up in a sinister conspiracy. I had no idea that Bill Stiller’s 2013 film of the same name was a remake of this 1947 film, but when I stumbled upon the 1947 version on Kanopy and immediately gave it a go and I’m happy I did! The broad strokes between the two films are essentially the same, there’s a guy in a good job at a publisher that frequently lets his daydreaming get in the...
The Taurus Reach: the source of a secret that has driven the great powers of the 23rd century to risk everything in the race to control it. Now four new adventures—previously untold tales of the past and present, with hints of what is yet to come—begin the next great phase in the Vanguard saga.W A collection of four short stories! It’s a first for this franchise, but a welcome one: “Almost Tomorrow” by Dayton Ward Prequel to the main storyline, showing when and how several of the main characters met each other and started their relationships. It’s a good but...
Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando: With James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye, Jim Ward, Rodger Bumpass. After saving the galaxy two years ago, Ratchet and Clank are recruited by the director of antother great enterprise, called Megacorp, in order to recuperate a robbed experiment in a far away galaxy. Made for the ps2, remastered for the ps3, then played about 10 years after I bought it, this sequel is much better in every way than the first game. Ratchet isn’t mean to his sidekick, the new weapons are fun, and the plot is still dumb but acceptable. My one complaint is...
Emily the Criminal: Directed by John Patton Ford. With Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Jonathan Avigdori, Kim Yarbrough. Down on her luck and saddled with debt, Emily gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, ultimately leading to deadly consequences. This might be Aubrey Plaza’s best dramatic role. Not to set your expectations too high, but boy howdy this was a hum dinger of a film and it would be well worth your time checking it out. Buy On Amazon!
I had really hoped for more from this game, and while it has a really nice wrapper on it, it’s essentially the same exact game as “Star Trek: Fleet Command” in which you are incessantly checking on timers that are counting down at a set rate to unlock credits to unlock a longer lasting timer, which in turn unlocks an even longer timer. The game play mechanic is tired and absolutely unsuccessful at capturing my attention, so this one’s gone into the trash bin.
