Dallin: The Film Fanatic

After many tribulations, the film that Warner Bros. hopes will save the DCEU will be..."Aquaman?"

Will a "Transformers" film not directed by Michael Bay make for, at the very least, a decent experience?

Peter Jackson's back to adapting novels. Is "Mortal Engines" another conversion done right?

With a muddled track record, will Sony succeed in their latest dive into the Spider-Man lore?

Is the Internet too broad a setting for a sequel to a film that kept it relatively simple?

Since "Creed" was such a great revitalization of the "Rocky" franchise, does this sequel expand on what made it great and continue to feel fresh?

Yet another movie adaptation of the classic legend. Does this version deliver on it's promised deviation?

Following a decent start with the first film, the "Fantastic Beasts" series continues with the first of four sequels. Is it on-par with the first or possibly better or worse?

Welcome back to Five Best Film Scores, a series where I select a film composer and select, well,  his or her's five best film scores. Today's symphonist: Christophe Beck.

With a director added to assist with extended reshoots, does this variation of the classic story crack under pressure?

Having experimented with Legos and storks, Warner Animation Group's latest film tells a tale of many yetis.

National Geographic continues to distribute their own documentary films and their next is called "Free Solo."

Damien Chazelle reteams with his "La La Land" star, Ryan Gosling, for a film adaptation of a book about Neil Armstrong. Does this look back at the moon landing land the eagle?

Once again, Sony tries to launch a Marvel-themed franchise without Marvel Studios' involvement. Does this venture fare better than their previous attempts?

I'm a huge fan of superhero films. Many of you readers likely know this by now. I love watching them, finding their deeper meanings, learning how they were made, but most of all, researching what impact they had on audiences when released. In other words, which of them were the most groundbreaking. In many of my studies, superhero films such as Richard Donner's "Superman: the Movie," Tim Burton's "Batman," Bryan Singer's "X-Men" and Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" have earned such status. This is because they helped influence what direction superhero movies would go in and helped determine whether the genre was viable. While these aforementioned films are good, are they groundbreaking? I asked myself this when I decided to create a list of groundbreaking superhero films. With this list, I want to nail down which superhero films are the most revolutionary. For this list, I've decided to narrow the number down to just five, and...

Can a film based on a long-lasting, childhood brand be successful without nostalgia?

With each new entry, the "Mission: Impossible" franchise gets better and better. Does "Fallout" surpass the highest highs of the series?

Here comes the sequel to a film that was based on a musical which was based on an ABBA song. I would make an old-fashioned, Italian exclamation, but the title beat me to it, so on with the review.

Can the third entry in an animated, family-friendly, Halloween-themed franchise find the same success as its predecessors with a summer release?

Is "Skyscraper" just another rip-off of "Die Hard?" It may seem like it is, but could it be different?

With J. A. Bayona in the director's chair, can the "Jurassic Park" franchise justify its elongated run?

For me, the only thing that could’ve made the original "Ant-Man” better, was if we saw the Wasp in it more. With the sequel, it seems like we get that, but is the quality kept up?

Hold on. If this is more of a continuation of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy, then shouldn't this be called, "Ocean's Fourteen?"

According to director Brad Bird, the reason for this movie's existence is because there was a story he wanted to tell. Was this story worth the fourteen-year wait?

With so many issues during its production, does "Solo: A Star Wars Story" crack under the chaos, or rise above the expectations of moviegoers?

Welcome to Five Best Film Scores, a new series that I'm starting where I select a film composer and share what I believe to be their five best film scores. The subject of today is Michael Giacchino. Michael Giacchino started out doing scores for video games and short films. He furthered his career doing scores for smaller films, such as "My Brother the Pig" and "Sin." The composer got some traction with successful and lucrative shows like "Alias" and "Lost," but his big break came when he was assigned the task of creating the score for Pixar's "The Incredibles.” After that, things went uphill for him. Since "The Incredibles," the composer has amassed a unique discography. He worked many more times with Pixar as well as composing scores for films like "Jurassic World" and the second two-thirds of the recent "Planet of the Apes" trilogy. With all these compositions, which of them are the best? That...

Wait a second. Jim from "The Office" and Michael Bay got together and made a Horror movie? How is this movie getting so much acclaim again?

It really is surprising that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going on for as long as it has. I remember watching the original "Iron Man" for the first time and having my mind opened to the world of superheroes. It was the first superhero film, which wasn't animated, that I saw. Since "Iron Man," Marvel has managed to be the best in the superhero film business. They are the studio that gives us consistently enjoyable movies and even have given us outstanding pictures that transcend the genre. No joke, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is my favorite franchise of all time. Beginning January 1st, I started a marathon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in that I would watch one film a week and by the time I'd finish, "Avengers: Infinity War" would be in theaters. With some adjustments, I completed my marathon and now that "Infinity War" is now released, it is the nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not everything has been...

The most expensive TV series ever made comes to a head. After eighteen, somewhat carefully-plotted films, are we in for one grand epic?

With the perfect director, a brilliant concept, and a well-rounded cast, will audiences flock to see this film for them, or the references.

While we've had great video game movies ("Wreck-It Ralph" and "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle"), can a rebooted "Tomb Raider" break the adaptation curse?

Another spawn of "Civil War" gets his own solo movie. With Ryan Coogler directing, will... Ah, who am I kidding? We all know this'll be a good movie, right?

2017 may have had its fair share of cinematic stinkers, but when compared to 2016, this year had way better movies and some truly remarkable films came out this past year. Unlike my worst list, which was easy to put together once I started it, the best list was hard to construct. Not because there were a lack of great films, but once I decided to only pick five films to feature on each list, my job became incredibly difficult. There were many occasions where it was a painful struggle to omit a film from making a spot in the five. To be fair, some of these entries were clear from the minute I finished watching them and now, I give you my list on what I thought were the best films of the year. Note:  I have not seen the more independent films that are getting major award recognition, so if you are expecting to see them here, you are going to be disappointed.

"Hugh Jackman in a musical? Yes, please. As P.T. Barnum? Uh, sure." - my initial reaction upon hearing about "The Greatest Showman."

It's indisputable that 2017 had a lot more better films than 2016. That does not mean that the year was home to some incredibly bad movies. Ones that were way more horrible and oddly more lucrative than those of the previous year. For the most part, I avoided the really terrible movies, but I still was a witness to some and they were atrocities. I usually have a hard time making worst lists, because no matter what you say, there's always someone out there who liked it. Nonetheless, I have selected my five worst films of 2017. I did five because, thankfully, I didn't see enough terrible films to make a traditional top ten list, but the other reason is that I think five is a more exclusive amount. It makes the best films even better, but also the worst films even worse.

As a kid, I was more partial to Jon Favreau's "Zathura" than Joe Johnston's "Jumanji," but how does this requel (mixture of a reboot and sequel) fare twenty-two years after the original?