Movie Reviews
Film and television reviewed the way I’d want to read them — with a rating that means something, an honest accounting of what works and what doesn’t, and craft notes for writers who want to understand how the machinery operates.
Each review includes a craft notes section for writers — specific observations about structure, character, world-building, and what the film does that you can actually use. Not theory. Technique you can steal.
Disaster (16)
May 19, 2026Airport (1970)
George Seaton's 1970 airline disaster film. Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Helen Hayes Oscar. Launched the 1970s disaster cycle.
May 19, 2026Dante’s Peak (1997)
Roger Donaldson's 1997 volcano disaster. Pierce Brosnan as volcanologist. Linda Hamilton. The other 1997 volcano film.
May 19, 2026Deep Impact (1998)
Mimi Leder's 1998 comet impact drama. Released alongside Armageddon. The serious one. Tea Leoni, Robert Duvall, Morgan Freeman.
May 18, 2026Deepwater Horizon (2016)
2016 Peter Berg disaster film with Mark Wahlberg recreating the 2010 BP oil rig explosion. Eleven dead, worst spill in U.S. history.
May 15, 2026Earthquake (1974)
Earthquake is the second-best disaster film of 1974. The Towering Inferno is the best. Both films defined what the disaster genre would be for the next...
May 18, 2026Geostorm (2017)
2017 Dean Devlin disaster film with Gerard Butler battling weather-controlling satellites that go rogue. Plot from a fortune cookie.
May 10, 2026Poseidon Adventure (1972)— Review
Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters, and the founding document of 1970s disaster cinema. The Poseidon Adventure reviewed at 7/10 after a dozen viewings.
May 10, 2026Poseidon Adventure (2006)— Review
Wolfgang Petersen modernized the 1972 disaster classic. Same story, leaner runtime, no religion, upgraded effects. Poseidon (2006) reviewed at 7/10.
May 15, 2026San Andreas (2015)
San Andreas is a Dwayne Johnson disaster movie. That sentence describes most of what it is. Brad Peyton directed it. Johnson plays Ray Gaines, a Los...
May 19, 2026The China Syndrome (1979)
James Bridges' 1979 nuclear plant near-meltdown. Lemmon, Fonda, Douglas. Released twelve days before Three Mile Island. Predictive.
May 15, 2026The Impossible (2012)
The Impossible is the best disaster film of the twenty-first century. J.A. Bayona directed it. Naomi Watts plays Maria Bennett, a doctor on Christmas...
May 19, 2026The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Ronald Neame's 1972 capsized ocean liner. Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters. Defining 1970s disaster film. Original.
May 18, 2026The Swarm (1978)
1978 Irwin Allen disaster film with Michael Caine versus African killer bees. Star-studded train wreck.
May 15, 2026The Towering Inferno (1974)
The Towering Inferno is the best disaster film of the 1970s and the model against which every subsequent disaster film has been measured. John Guillermin...
May 19, 2026Twister (1996)
Jan de Bont's 1996 tornado-chase. Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt. Cow scene. Foundation for every storm-chasing production since.
May 19, 2026Volcano (1997)
Mick Jackson's 1997 Los Angeles volcano. Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche. Released alongside Dante's Peak in volcano cinema year.