Mark Sommer

Ocean?s Eleven: Danny?s Perfect Hand

Mark SommerMay 24, 2018

George Clooney is ubiquitous. Last week we all saw him at Prince Harry and Megan?s wedding. He looked as much a part of a fairy tale as the wedding itself ? suave and handsome, with his young wife on his arm. The Daily Express ran a story that same day with the...

DVD Reviews

Ocean’s 11 (1960): The Rat Pack’s Kick in the Head

Mark SommerMay 17, 2018

Show me a man without a dream. And I'll show you a man that's dead. Real Dead. So sings Josh Howard, portrayed by Sammy Davis Jr., in the original 1960 Ocean's 11, the Rat Pack heist movie which inspired the Ocean's trilogy from the first decade of this millennium....

DVD Reviews

A Wrinkle in Time: Madeleine L?Engle’s Wrinkled Theology

Mark SommerMar 14, 2018

One of my biggest regrets is I did not read more "classic novels" when I was growing up. I was well into my adulthood before I read such books as Of Mice and Men and Watership Down. My first reading of A Wrinkle in Time was in 2009 when I was spearheading Hollywood...

Books Film OtherFish

Star Wars Episode VIII: Will The Last Jedi Save the Day?

Mark SommerDec 30, 2017

"Stars Wars is back as it should be - best episode yet!" So I wrote on Facebook Thursday night, December 14, after watching an early showing of the movie. Rave reviews were already appearing on the internet but not all the fanbase would be pleased when they viewed the...

Features Film Reviews Star Wars

Amazon’s Lord of Rings Series: How Did That Happen? What Does It Mean?

Mark SommerDec 7, 2017

A little over two years ago, in mid-October of 2015, Peter Jackson released his extended edition of The Battle of the Five Armies. The Middle-earth fan base assumed that was all this generation would see of Tolkien's works on film. After all, the Executor of the...

Editorial News Television

Beauty and the Beast: Looking for the ‘Deep Truths’

Mark SommerJun 6, 2017

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We see what we are looking for; our view of a person ? or a movie ? depends, to a great extent, on who we are. Beauty and the Beast is about seeing beauty despite outward appearances. Ironically, the villagers can see only Belle's...

DVD Film Reviews

Pirates of the Caribbean: Missed Opportunities On Stranger Tides

Mark SommerMay 22, 2017

This weekend, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Salazar's Revenge in the UK) comes out in theaters. The last time Disney released a Pirates movie, it was a bit of a disaster. Or was it? [Note: This review contains spoilers, and was written with the...

DVD Editorial Film Reviews

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – Into the Locker and Back Again

Mark SommerMay 16, 2017

Jack Sparrow is taken, body and soul, to a place not of death, but punishment. The worst fate a person can bring upon himself. Stretching on forever. That?s what awaits at Davy Jones? locker. Theologians have long debated the existence and nature of Hell. Tia Darma's...

DVD Editorial Film Reviews

Pirates of the Caribbean: Seeking Freedom from a Dead Man’s Chest

Mark SommerMay 9, 2017

The Curse of the Black Pearl began with a ditty created by?George Edward Bruns and?Francis Xavier Atencio for the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland. Dead Man's Chest early on uses Robert Louis Stevenson's "Dead Man's Chest" from Treasure Island. Can...

DVD Editorial Film Reviews

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