The Zachtastic Movie Blog

The Retro Movie Minute feature is a series on The Zachtastic Movie Blog in which I briefly share my thoughts on an older film. Regardless of whether or not I had seen it previously, my general rule of thumb here will be that I report on something I had seen in theaters as part of the Cinemark Classic Series. I will also make exceptions for older films played in special events or if I am seeing some movie(s) in preparation for a new release that is somehow related. To catch up with all other installments of this series, refer to the list at the bottom of this post. Thank you for reading! Alien (Poster Source: IMDb ) Soon after I returned home from my mission, I was mowing the front yard at the rental house my parents own. My regular ritual with this type of job was (and still is) to listen to Filmspotting, a podcast which has served as one of my strongest influences as a film critic . At that time back in April 2016, I was listening to an episode in which the ho...

NOTE: This post will cover some spoilers from certain movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Be advised in case you haven’t seen all of them. If Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t end up being the biggest Hollywood releases of 2018, then I don’t know what will. Surely no film up to this point has been made with such an extensive cast of A-list actors, nor has a project been (arguably) as ambitious as the culmination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To say that it is one of the most anticipated films in the history of the art form is no joke either, for there are plenty of reasons to get hyped over this incredible amassing of talent and comic book lore. I happen to be one of those people who is very excited for what this movie holds in store. This was mentioned in my list of the 2018 movies I was most excited to see at the beginning of this year, and the same is still true today. Perhaps that is even more the case considering that I just recently revisited the first two...

(Poster Source: IMDb ) Hollywood studios need to take note of something: comedians make for great horror directors. They may be hilarious when their intent is to induce some laughter, but after some recently strong horror films from such talents, I am beginning to wonder if something inside their heads is spurring the twisted creativity within them. First of all, last year we had a near-horror masterpiece in Jordan Peele’s Get Out . Its success story has been well-documented following its incredible box office numbers , almost universally positive reviews , and even an Academy Award for Peele in the Best Original Screenplay category (a well-deserved victory, in my opinion). His racially-charged satirical thriller sent shockwaves throughout the industry, and I almost wonder if his debut paved the way for John Krasinski to have similarly strong results here. In Krasinski’s case, he is credited as the director and a co-writer on A Quiet Place — an eerily silent exercise in...