Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008): ⭐️⭐️: Inoffensively and forgettably entertaining. Occasionally hilariously obviously made during the 2000s 3D resurgence, with objects and effects being flung at the camera. Brendan Frasier is his usual affable self; not up to The Mummy levels, but by far the strongest part of the film.
Michael Hanscom
📚 Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
39/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1982 Hugo Best Novel
High concept interstellar politics and space battles that just never really got me invested. Though I’ll admit, I may have been slightly put off by this particular edition having a lot of typos (usually punctuation, but at least once a misnamed character that made things quite confusing for a bit). Good space opera, but doesn’t rank highly for me among Hugo winners.
🎥 Jurassic World Dominion
Jurassic World Dominion (2022): ⭐️⭐️⭐️: I know the critics were snarky, but we really enjoyed it — and though we hadn’t seen it yet, we went right for the extended edition, and it felt fine. Long, sure, but not obviously or painfully draggy. And a lot of fun nods to moments from the earlier films throughout. Only disappointed that the pandemic kept us from seeing it in the theater!
🎥 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018): ⭐️⭐️⭐️: Everybody loves grrasauruses! Yes, they’ve gone over-the-top and silly with these, but is that a bad thing?
🎥 Jurassic World
Jurassic World (2015): ⭐️⭐️⭐️: The rest of the Jurassic World films don’t quite live up to this first one, but they’re all still fun for fans of dinosaurs and science run amok, and this one was a strong reentry into the world.
🎥 Woman in Motion
Woman in Motion (2019): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: A little sad that I didn’t get around to seeing this until after Nichelle died. A really nice portrait of an incredible person, and a very important period in NASA’s and America’s history.
🎥 I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006): ½: Only made it through 20 minutes before we tapped out.
🎥 Baywatch
Baywatch (2017): ⭐️⭐️: Quite dumb, but we laughed. The Rock being a goofball in dumb action movies is a definite guilty pleasure.
📚 No Time Like the Past by Greg Cox
38/2022 – ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cox again indulges in an adventure heavily reliant on references to past canon, but it works better here due to focusing primarily on three distinct TOS episodes, rather than peppering “remember when…” moments throughout.
🎥 Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire (1994): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Hadn’t seen this one in decades, yet it still holds up quite well (though, while I’ve come to accept Cruise as Lestat, I still think Julian Sands would have been a better choice).