film criticism by maryann johanson, not an AI | since 1997
You know that fourth Indiana Jones movie for which we’ve been waiting ten years? Well, here it is. From its wowser of an opening in ancient Egypt to the spectacular finale featuring an army of reanimated, bandage-dripping soldiers, The Mummy is a totally enthralling, nonstop thrill ride, the best popcorn flick in years, the purest fun I’ve had at the movies since I can’t remember when.
The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological thriller of the highest order, and well deserving of the unusual Oscar nod for Best Picture, never before bestowed upon a film like this. Before or since, action/horror has never been done so well or so cerebrally.
American cinema took a sudden, gritty turn with director Billy Wilder’s terrifying The Lost Weekend. Whereas earlier films kept some distance from their subjects, Weekend zooms in and puts one man’s obsession under a microscope.
The body count is huge, and vats of blood and entrails are spilled — all the gore is not scary in the least.
What a great film! One of the most underappreciated movies of last year…
A really stylish thriller…
Nasty, funny, and scary enough to keep me away from any kind of drugs up to and including aspirin…
What was intended as dark gothic horror just comes off as something out a Renaissance Festival gone horribly wrong.
Event Horizon had such promise…
