‘X-Men’ reviews
John’s “X-Men” flashback review, johnvhansen.com, June 14, 2014 “X-Men” – From the opening scenes showing the backgrounds of three main characters to the final epic battle atop the Statue of Liberty, it’s clear that director […]
Movies
‘Loser’ review
“Loser” – Writer-director Amy Heckerling’s (“Clueless”) latest effort is a romantic comedy that falls firmly into the category of “cute movie” rather than “dumb movie” by doing a lot of little things right. (Also, it […]
‘The Perfect Storm’ review
“The Perfect Storm” – Based on the true story of New England swordfishermen who battle a convergence of three vicious storms in 1991, director Wolfgang Peterson’s adaptation of Sebastian Junger’s book lets the power the […]
‘Annabelle: Creation’ tells origin story of that creepy doll
Movie review: The “Conjuring” Universe goes back to the Fifties to tell Annabelle’s origin story.
‘Valerian’ serves up grand adventure while showing how its source material influenced ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Avatar’ (Movie review)
I consider myself to be an amateur “Star Wars” historian, but until recently, I didn’t know about the influence of the “Valerian and Laureline” comics on George Lucas’ saga. Pulling the 1997 “Magic of Myth” book […]
‘Armageddon’ review
Brainerd Dispatch: Completely random slice of pop culture 1998 was the year of ‘Armageddon’ By JOHN HANSEN July 10, 2008 This is going to sound kind of random, but 1998 will always be the year […]
‘Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2’ review
NDSU Spectrum: Movie review ‘Book of Shadows’ deepens the Blair Witch mythology By JOHN HANSEN Nov. 3, 2000 When a film makes $140 million and is called “scary as hell” by Peter Travers, everyone has […]
‘Patch Adams’ review
“Patch Adams” – Patch Adams (Robin Williams) discovers the healing power of humor and shares it with patients, friends and stuffed-shirt deans. A heartfelt comedy from the formula Williams has perfected, it gets better with […]
‘The Waterboy’ review
“The Waterboy” – A waterboy-turned-linebacker teaches people to stop making fun of him, even though “there’s something wrong with his medulla oblongata.” It stars Adam Sandler and employs the always-effective revenge theme; how could it […]
‘Apt Pupil’ review
“Apt Pupil” – Fascinated by Hitler’s Germany, a young student (Brad Renfro) discovers the nature of evil from an ex-Nazi. Bryan Singer’s film is a deliciously depressing tale about a fascinating subject, bursting with themes […]