Clownhouse (1989)
Dec 11, 2006Psycho Clowns
An incredibly eerie and haunting killer clown film from Victor Salva. This is one of the few films that capture something of the spooky suspense of John Carpenter's Halloween
Sam Rockwell
The Green Mile (1999)
Dec 24, 1999Miracle-Healing Death Row Inmate/Stephen King Addaptation
Frank Darabont had a hit with the Stephen King adaptation The Shawshank Redemption. Here he makes another King adaptation about a Death Row inmate with healing powers
GalaxyQuest (1999)
Dec 28, 1999Star Trek Parody
An extremely funny parody of Star Trek that sends up both the show, the actors and the fandom. A very witty and knowing script that has definitely been written by fans
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
May 2, 2005Gonzo SF
The big-budget film version of The Hitch Hiker’s Guide phenomenon is a disaster that fumbles Douglas Adams’s absurdist wit and blows everything up with big-budget effects and a pitch to American audiences
Joshua (2007)
Dec 15, 2007Psycho Child
Another variant on the evil child theme, this suffers from far too mannered an approach where you keep waiting for it to pull back and sink its teeth into something shocking
Moon (2009)
Aug 13, 2009Man Isolated on The Moon/Cloning Mystery
SF film with Sam Rockwell as a lone man stationed on The Moon discovering the truth of his existence, this gained much word of mouth when it came out
G-Force (2009)
Oct 20, 2009Talking Guinea Pig Secret Agents
Imagine a Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible spy caper played out with talking guinea pigs. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, no less, this offers appealingly energetic silliness
Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
Nov 30, 2009Novice Science-Fiction Writer/Nerd Comedy
Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess visits the same territory with this comedy in which teenager Michael Angarano has his manuscript stolen by SF writer Jemaine Clement
Iron Man 2 (2010)
May 21, 2010Comic-Book Superhero
Iron Man was very enjoyable. True to typical superhero sequel form, this complicates the original by introducing so many new villains and characters that it becomes an overcrowded narrative juggling act
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)
Jul 9, 2011Western/Alien Invasion
High-concept Jon Favreau directed film that has a winning title concept, overflows with star power and is made on a big budget. But the script feels like it had no idea what to do after setting up its title conceptual mash-up
Poltergeist (2015)
May 30, 2015Haunting
It has become an overused phrase in this site's critical arsenal to say "yet another 70s/80s remake that is inferior to the original". The 1982 Poltergeist was one of the great ghost stories of the era; this hits all the beats and with bigger effects but fails to find any of the haunted mood of the original
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Feb 15, 2020Young Nazi Boy with Adolf Hitler as an Imaginary Companion
The story of a young Nazi boy who has Adolf Hitler as an imaginary companion gained awards acclaim but swings between Hogan's Heroes slapstick and a tender story about overcoming racial prejudice
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2025)
Mar 21, 2026Time Traveller
A completely mad and all over the place film with Sam Rockwell as a time traveller (or madman) arrived at a diner to recruit six people on a mission to save the world from an evil A.I.