Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
This movie has been around for so long that it’s difficult to review because it’s basically a classic. What’s not to love about Journey to the Center of the Earth? It’s a relic of a bygone age, when family movies didn’t have to be computer-animated and in 3D (which is funny, because they remade this movie in 3D with Brendan Fraser). It’s an epic, fun film that everyone can enjoy – the perfect sunday afternoon flick. The cast is worth mentioning, as James Mason is great as the curmudgeonly Professor Lindenbrook, but Pat Boone doesn’t make a particularly convincing Scotsman and will take any opportunity to sing that he can. For me, Journey to the Center of the Earth sits in the pantheon of family classics alongside The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
5 out of 5
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
Unlike the 1959 of Journey to the Center of the Earth, the 2008 movie of the same name is a pretty big turd. All the old-timey charm of the 1959 film’s special effects has been drained through an overuse of CGI, and since this was also one of the films that preceded Avatar‘s 3D boom in cinemas, there’s an over-reliance on 3D gags that don’t translate when the film is viewed in 2D. Brendan Fraser is his goofy self, and if you like goofy Brendan Fraser, you’ll find him enjoyable, but in my opinion, a film has to have more than just goofy Brendan Fraser working for it to make it worthwhile. This is not the case with this iteration of Jules Verne’s classic text.
2 out of 5
Something Wicked This Way Comes
I feel like this movie is frequently overlooked, but then, it’s easy to see why it might be. Something Wicked This Way Comes is an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s story of the same name, and in fact Bradbury wrote the screenplay as well. Unfortunately, as tends to happen, the film was messed with by the studios to make it less ponderous and perhaps a bit more comprehensible. This doesn’t seem to have done much good, though, because there are times when this movie drags a bit, but if you can overlook those parts you’ll find a creepy, gothic and strange story. Jonathan Pryce stars as Mr. Dark of Dark’s Pandemonium Carnival – a mysterious fair that rolls into a small town one fall night and begins to torment its residents by making their wishes come true…but then feeding off their misery when they find their wishes taken away. It’s a very dark and philosophical Disney movie, and you can definitely hear Bradbury’s voice in the script, which is a good thing. I’d put money on Tim Burton really enjoying this film, and now that I think about it, this would be the perfect kind of movie to watch around Halloween.
3.25 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!