The Golden Compass
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The Golden Compass is one of the most beautiful and original fantasy films of all time. Sadly, the call for a boycott by the Catholic League of Decency caused the money men to order a short film, an hour and fifty-three minutes. Only about half the book made it to the screen, but everything there is opulent and intelligently crafted.

Stardust
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick is happy to report that the movie Stardust is much better than expected. The previews made it look sketchy and perfunctory compared with other fantasy movies crowding the screens, but Stardust turned out to be quite delightful. It uses the book, as movies will, and leaves out a lot and puts in a lot, as movies will, but the mix works more often than not.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The latest Harry Potter film is a solid, satisfying dark fantasy. Maybe it is a hair less good than the preceding film, but we have been lucky so far. None of the Harry Potter films have suffered from the kind of series-itus seen in most of this Summer's blockbusters. Even the critics are coming around, setting aside their distaste for anything popular and granting that the Harry Potter films might be entertaining.

Spider-Man III,
Shrek the Third
and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
movie reviews by Rick Norwood
The three summer blockbuster threequels are not as bad as the reviewers would have you believe. They are, to praise them with faint damns, the best genre films so far in 2007. So, three stars each for Spider-man 3, Shrek the Third, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The bad news is that none of these is as good as the second film in the series, which in turn was not as good as the first. To find a film trilogy that actually improved in the third film, you need to go back to The Return of the King, and before that to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer is a fun film. It isn't a great film -- it doesn't pretend to be. Unlike some Summer films, it does not try too hard and wind up deeply flawed. Instead, it aims at the same brand of lighthearted entertainment found in the Jack Kirby and Stan Lee comic books, and hits the mark.

Next
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Next is one of those all too common films where craftsmanship on the part of the actors and technicians is rendered pointless by a total lack of craftsmanship on the part of the writers. The gimmick is that Nic Cage can see two minutes into the future. If there were such a person, Rick'll tell you later on what his life would really be like, but that doesn't happen in the movie, because the writers never bother to think.

The Last Mimzy
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This slight, surprisingly pretty, mildly enjoyable film is based on a classic science fiction story of more than sixty years ago by Henry Kuttner and his wife, C.L. Moore. Thanks to the film, a collection of their stories has been reissued in paperback, under the film's title and spelling.

Ghost Rider
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Ghost Rider has two things going for it, good visual effects and Nicholas Cage. Sadly, director Mark Steven Johnson does not think he needs a writer, even though he lacks basic writerly skills himself. He does come up with some clever bits. But he has no idea how to establish a character, twist a plot, or build suspense.

Pan's Labyrinth
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick was disappointed by Pan's Labyrinth, the most favorably reviewed film of 2006. Leaving the theater, he overheard enough comments to know he was not alone in that disappointment, especially from people who had brought children. This is not a film for children.

Children of Men
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Along with Pirates of the Caribbean, this one of the two most entertaining films of 2006. From the previews one might think it would be a bummer, but it has all the virtues of pulp fiction that Hollywood so often forgets. We care about the people, because they have both character and individuality. The plot makes sense, and throws seemingly insuperable obstacles in the hero's path. And there is a consistent theme that holds the story together.

Eragon
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Eragon is a dragon movie that does not have an original bone in its body. The writers were saved the trouble of actually doing any writing, since the entire plot is borrowed from one source or another, and pasted into the template of the farm boy who saves the princess and fights the evil king, a plot that was old when the brothers Grimm were young.

Déjà Vu
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Déjà Vu is a smarter film than the previews would lead you to expect, with a strictly defined SF idea the consequences of which are played out according to the rules. A window in time is opened. It reaches four and a half days into the past. If a living thing tries to go through the window, its heart stops. An act of terrorism is committed in New Orleans. Detectives try to use the time window to solve the crime.

Stranger than Fiction
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Stranger than Fiction could be based on a Theodore Sturgeon story from Unknown or it could be based on a Charlie Kaufman screenplay, but actually it is an original script by Zach Helm, who prior to this film has written one TV movie Rick never heard of, acted in one TV episode Rick didn't see, and directed one film that won't be out until next year.

The Fountain
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The Fountain is not fantasy or science fiction. It is the story of a doctor whose wife is dying, and who foolishly tries to save her life instead of enjoying their last days together. That's it. So, why is it being reviewed for a science fiction web site? Why, to save you seven dollars and fifty cents, of course. Rick is always thinking of you.

A Scanner Darkly
a movie review by Rick Norwood
One thing is clear. Everybody connected with this movie has done a lot of drugs. The dialogue perfectly captures the narrow line between irony and stupidity, between mock violence and real violence, between paranoia and real noia.

Lady in the Water
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Samuel R. Delany has written that enjoyment of art depends on the tension between the expected and the unexpected. Too much of the expected, we yawn. Too much of the unexpected, and we become confused. A lot of people evidently were confused by this highly enjoyable, completely original film. America is not ready for an urban fairy tale.

Superman Returns
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The worst thing about Superman Returns is the actor, who has a variety of facial expressions similar to that of the plastic Aurora Superman model -- except on two or three very brief occasions when he looks so much like Christopher Reeve that he may have had a little help from CGI.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This is the best new Roadrunner and Coyote cartoon since Chuck Jones passed away. Chuck Jones -- the man who discovered that the laws of physics can be funny. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have learned that lesson well. Everybody LEAN this way. Good. Now everybody LEAN that way. Good. Lean this way. Lean that way. This way. That way. Grab. Oops, missed. Again. Lean. Lean. Lean.

X-Men: The Last Stand
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The third X-Men movie is the best so far, which is saying a lot considering how good the first two were. You may be afraid the new director and writers would not maintain the quality -- as has happened with other threequels -- but have no fear, true believer. The writers know their Marvel comics. They pick the best stuff from hundreds of issues and weave it into a seamless whole.

V for Vendetta
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This is an old fashioned movie, fashioned from words and images instead of villains and violence. It is not as good as the comic book. It is a kinder, gentler terrorism -- a terrorism that blows things up but doesn't actually hurt anybody (except for bad guys of course).

Nanny McPhee
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Emma Thompson is a rare bird -- two great talents, actress and writer. And how she writes! She won an Oscar for her script for Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility and the IMDB credits her as unsung script doctor for the recent Pride and Prejudice. She wrote and stars in this first fantasy film of 2006. The script has its good points and its bad points.

King Kong
a movie review by Rick Norwood
When he first saw the original King Kong, Rick was just a kid. He remembers being bored for the first twenty minutes or so, but once the ship reached Kong Island, he was thrilled. Every scene is indelibly etched on his memory, and he thinks that he could recreate every stop-motion lash of the Tyrannosaur's tail.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
a movie review by Rick Norwood
There have been two previous TV adaptations of the book, one animated, one live action. They were well intentioned, but proved that certain stories cannot be filmed with investing a great deal of money. Everything here looks real, from the snowflakes falling from the sky to the battles featuring centaurs, ogres, and a rhinoceros. And then the special effects have the grace to step aside, and allow the human characters center stage.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The new Harry Potter film gets off to a shaky start. No sooner do we get used to one setting than we are snatched away to another. One might worry that the task of adapting a 636-page book had been too much for Steve Kloves, who has written all the Harry Potter movies. Then, Harry arrives at Hogwarts, and it turns out that Kloves knew what he was doing -- get the first third of the book out of the way, fast, and concentrate on the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Zathura
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick loved Zathura. The use of telling details makes it easy for you to believe three impossible things before breakfast. The box that the old game comes in is foxed. The sound of the metal game as it is laid down on a hardwood floor is exactly right. That is the sound that the old Tom Corbett -- Space Academy toy made when you put it down on a hardwood floor. The illustrations in the game perfectly capture the style used in science fiction toys in the late 40s and early 50s.

The Brothers Grimm
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It is a delightful movie, with much more originality both in plot and visual effects than most fantasies. It gets off to a rather rocky start; initially the brothers are not very likable. They make their living by swindling the gullible and they don't get along with each other all that well.

Stealth
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick doesn't ask much from a Summer movie. He doesn't expect it to make sense. A few nice explosions are all he asks for and Stealth provides them, though Cliché might be a better title.

The Island
a movie review by Rick Norwood
There is some fun to be had from the car chases and explosions, if you can accept the idea that an evil corporation thinks that crashing a helicopter into a skyscraper is a good way to cover up its wrongdoing. Just a few of the explosions in this film would be enough to spark the biggest investigation since 9/11.

War of the Worlds
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It owes as much to the 1953 film, The War of the Worlds, as it does to the H.G. Wells novel. The opening narration is adapted from the novel, but the closing narration is adapted from the film. There are significant omissions from Wells' first paragraph. Wells writes that the Martians have "intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own". In other words, the Martians are not supernatural, but are creatures like us, subject to scientific law. They are smarter than we are, therefore they know more science, therefore are more powerful.

Fantastic Four
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The Fantastic Four were the first squabbling super-heroes of the Silver Age, and you have to have been there to realize what an innovation that was, after the namby-pamby friendships of the D.C. super-heroes, who always got along and never ever argued. The conflict between the characters is a high point of the film.

Howl's Moving Castle
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Of the myriad Japanese animation directors, Hayao Myiazaki is the most prestigious, even if Cowboy Beebop and Trigun may be more fun. Myiazaki's anime are beautiful and poetic, but they tend to wander all over the place, without really rising to a climax. Rick's favorite of his features is still his first, The Castle of Cagliostro.

Batman Begins
reviewed by Rick Norwood
Batman Begins is a major disappointment, a muddled mess. It begins with an hour-long origin story, which is almost identical to the origin story in the movie The Shadow -- not a great movie, but a better movie than this one.

Revenge of the Sith
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The last of the Star Wars movies is, sadly, also the least. It is certainly one of the most spectacular films ever made. But while it is often beautiful, it is never joyous; often exciting but never thrilling.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It is not as bad as you feared nor as good as you hoped, very different from any other version, but with a lot of the same lines. The movie version essentially adapts the first book with the cards shuffled, a few cards borrowed from other decks, and quite a few wild cards.

Robots
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It is very much what you expect from the makers of Ice Age. The dance on ball bearings was Rick's favorite bit. Robin Williams delivers so many one-liners that a few of them are bound to be funny. Like so many postmodern cartoons, the movie mocks sentimentality at the same time that it relies on sentimentality to keep the viewer interested.

Constantine
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick liked the opening few minutes, which introduce a McGuffin which is promptly forgotten about until the very end. Rick liked the rubber duckie. Rick liked the angel. Rick kinda liked the devil, except that he's about as menacing as Sid Caesar.

The Polar Express
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick gives The Polar Express four stars because it succeeds in showing you things you've never seen before, some of them exciting, some beautiful. It admirably does what it sets out to do. But there is a sick worm at the heart of the rose.

The Incredibles
a movie review by Rick Norwood
It is very enjoyable but not transcendently great. Essentially it takes Stan Lee's idea for the Fantastic Four -- superheroes who have problems with their job, family, and love life -- and applies a budget, technical polish, and special effects far beyond the Lee and Kirby creation. It bears roughly the same relation to The Fantastic Four that the Star Trek films bore to the original television Star Trek.

Shaun of the Dead
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The joke here is that our everyday lives are so mindless that when people start turning into zombies, things aren't all that different. The problem with the film is that that's the joke -- the only joke. There is, however, a theory that if something isn't funny, you have only to say it in a working class British accent to make it funny.

Team America: World Police
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Rick laughed out loud. That's a good thing. It doesn't happen often at movies, probably because he does not find human bodily fluids automatically hilarious. It has been a long time since he has seen a film in theaters as funny as, say, Buster Keaton in Our Hospitality.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Every schoolboy knows the story of how Kerry Conran vanished into his basement for twenty years, and came out with six minutes of computer-generated film good enough to convince Hollywood to hand him a zillion dollars so he could make the motion picture of his dreams. Less well known are the unsung creators of the images that Conran brings to computer-generated life on the screen, illustrators for comic strips and digest science fiction magazines such as Clarence Gray, Frank R. Paul, and Ed Valigursky.

Alien Vs. Predator
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Very early in the film, if you watch closely, you catch a glimpse on a television screen of Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr., icons of the Universal horror films. Lon Chaney, Jr.'s last film (made in 1971!) was Dracula Vs. Frankenstein, reputed to be one of the dumbest films ever made. It can't be much dumber than Alien Vs. Predator.

I, Robot
a movie review by Rick Norwood
I hope you were able to avoid reading any reviews before seeing the movie. Except this one. It is OK to read this review before seeing the movie because I'm only going to tell you one thing about the plot. It is a murder mystery. The good news is that the movie isn't anything like what the previews lead you to expect.

Spider-Man 2
a movie review by Rick Norwood
By now you already know that Spider-Man 2 is in the same league with the first Spider-Man film, which is to say that it is among the best super-hero films ever. Some people prefer it to the first film.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Slightly lighter weight than the first two Harry Potter movies, the third ends leaving you wishing for more. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The film is long on fear, long on beauty, long on character, and short on explanations. In fact, while the rather complicated ways in which the plot advances in Book Three are made crystal clear, anyone who has not read the earlier books or seen the earlier films will be lost.

Shrek 2
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Better than Rick thought it would be. Not as good as the first one. It has some laughs, and is emotionally honest, which is rare in a cartoon. But there are some missteps.

The Day After Tomorrow
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The Day After Tomorrow is to science fiction what Van Helsing is to horror films; big and dumb. But Van Helsing at least offered a little charm. The CGI sequences -- the tornados in Los Angeles, the tidal wave that engulfs New York -- are entertaining, but it is a sorry movie where the CGI effects have more personality than the characters.

Van Helsing
a movie review by Rick Norwood
The opening scenes are a black and white homage to the Universal Studios monster pictures. In fact, the whole movie is really just one homage after another, with visual quotes from everything from Stagecoach to Raiders of the Lost Ark. But it owes its greatest debt to Chuck Jones and the Roadrunner and the Coyote, cartoon horror, with cartoon physics (good cartoon physics, you understand) and always an unbelievable coincidence just around the corner.

Ella Enchanted
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This film almost flew below Rick's radar, since he had assumed it was a quickie attempt to cash in on Shrek 2. But he has had second thoughts. Adults may find Ella Enchanted too silly, but children -- especially little girls -- will love it.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This is a SF art flick, which means it has some boring stretches but an emotional payoff so powerful it more than makes up for them. It would be the most original SF film in years, if it didn't happen to come at the end of a whole slew of movies told backward and an equal number of movies about memory wipes.

Hellboy
a movie review by Rick Norwood
This is a minor but fairly entertaining superhero film. The problem with the film is that Hellboy is impervious to harm. The best action movies feature a vulnerable hero in a tight spot: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Die Hard, Titanic. When you have an invulnerable hero, such as Superman or Hellboy, you have to focus on the supporting cast.

Dawn of the Dead
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Times have changed. The audience was rooting for the humans when we watched the original George Romero movie Dawn of the Dead, affectionately called Mall of the Living Dead by its many fans. Now, the audience is rooting for the zombies. As zombie movies go, Dawn of the Dead is pretty good.

The Return of the King
a movie review by Rick Norwood
Good beyond hope! The third film in the trilogy takes even more liberties with Tolkien than the second did, but all in the service of a great cinematic experience. Taken as a whole, the three films are even better than other high points of modern cinema, Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and will be remembered as long and as fondly as Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.